Draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy - Southern Region Submission from Wexford County Council 0 P a g e | 1 Wexford County Council P a g e | 2 Executive Summary Wexford County Council (WCC) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES). WCC make the following suggestions to the RSES which would see a much improved and strengthened strategy to the benefit of the whole region. WCC welcomes the holistic objectives which form the strategy outlined in Section 2.2 and consider that they will positively influence the sustainable development of the region. The RSES would benefit from a more defined strategy which clearly outlines the dynamics of the strategy. This section should be explicit in stating what the strategy is and how it will achieve its vision and deliver effective regional development to the benefit of the whole region. This should be accompanied by a clearly identified, named and graphically illustrated Spatial Strategy, Economic Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy1. It should provide a vision and strategy for each of the components of the region; the Southern Region, each Strategic Planning Area, the three Metropolitan Areas, each county, the Key Towns, other towns and villages, rural areas and Networks. The strategy needs to clearly address and plan for the mechanisms by which the MASPs will drive the development of the region. WCC request that the key principle of ‘tackling legacies’ in urban centres is expanded to include tackling legacies and regional socio-economic disparities in all areas and at all levels of the hierarchy. The theme legacies/disparities should be reflected throughout the RSES, in particular, the sections relating to employment, education and quality of life and it should be linked to URDF/RRDF/DTF/CAF funds. The provision of the Technological University of the South East and, in particular, the development of the Wexford Campus will be crucial in addressing disparities in socio-economic outcomes and the development of the various campuses should be referenced in the RSES. The definition of Key Towns in the RSES is ‘Large or strategically located towns which have an accessibility and influence in a regional or sub regional context’. Enniscorthy and New Ross towns are clearly consistent with this definition and it is imperative that they are included as Key Towns having regard to their future development and the role they can play in serving the region. The methodology by which Key Towns were selected is unclear and requires further examination. There is limited focus on non-Key Towns and villages in the RSES. WCC request that the settlements of the region are characterised and regional policy responses identified per settment typology which expand on NPO 6 and NPO 7 of the NPF. Section 3.3 Rural Areas focuses primarily on single houses in rural areas. WCC request that this section is expanded to address all the components that contribute to sustainable rural areas and communities including local services, community facilities, education, transport, public realm and quality of life. It should also address rural poverty, deprivation, disparities and education in rural areas. WCC welcomes the inclusion of the Eastern Economic Corridor (part of UNECE Route E01) from Rosslare Europort-Dublin-Belfast. WCC respectfully request that this corridor is further developed in the RSES in the 1 It is noted that while a Settlement Hierarchy is referred to throughout the RSES Section 3.3 refers to Settlement Typology. Wexford County Council P a g e | 3 same way that the Atlantic Economic Corridor is envisaged in the NPF, with a committed investment package. The Corridor should be supported by strong objectives which commit to the development of clusters of employment and smart specialisms using a shared, educated workforce and which would be facilitated by the provision of an efficient, sustainable transport system. WCC further request that the Eastern Economic Corridor and the other networks referred to in Section 3.8 are changed from ‘examples’ to proposals for development/further development with associated RPOs. WCC note that the Southern Regional Assembly has directly transferred the population allocation figures from the Implementation Roadmap for the National Planning Framework (DHPLG, 2018) to the RSES. WCC expresses serious concerns that these figures provide for insufficient growth to accommodate demographic change in the counties of the region. WCC commissioned population projections which indicate that population growth will be higher than that which has been allocated to County Wexford. The consequence of this will be a shortage of housing, overheating of the housing market and further misalignment between where people live and work. WCC notes that the model contained in the Roadmap2 itself provides insufficient information to interrogate the figures provided and this will present difficulties for planning authorities when preparing Core Strategies for their County Development Plans. It is clear that the Roadmap envisaged that these figures would be further elaborated upon in the RSES. Having regard to the critical importance of these figures in land use planning and the delivery of housing units it is imperative that the Regional Assembly, in association with the DHPLG, review the population allocations in the Roadmap with a view to providing clarity on the methodology which was used to arrive at the projections/allocations. This information should be provided to local authorities so that meaningful comments could be provided on the figures. The Economic Strategy set out in Section 4.2 would benefit from a greater level of detail on the policy mechanisms that will be utilised to ensure employment growth will be distributed to the benefit of the region. Section 1.2 of the RSES indicates that the MASPS will act as economic drivers for their wider regions, however no detail is provided on the policy mechanisms that will transfer this benefit to the region. Section 1.3 of the RSES indicates that there is evidence of significant decline in smaller towns and villages and that provision of services, investment and policy support is urgently needed to arrest decline and bolster and consolidate these vital settlements. It is requested that the Economic Strategy should include objectives to support investment and employment creation in the smaller towns and villages to arrest decline. The NPF places a strong emphasis on aligning population and employment growth in order to achieve more balanced growth and sustainable development. It is requested that the RSES gives a significant focus to the generation of local sources of employment to reduce commuting levels. It is recommended that that RPO 593, the Guiding principles to identify locations for strategic employment development and the Guiding principles for investment prioritisation in place making for enterprise development should be relocated to Section 4.2 as they are integral to the strategy. It is recommended that the wording of this RPO and these sections are amended to ‘address unemployment black spots/legacies, 2 This information on application of these projections/allocations is also not available in the ESRI document ‘Prospects for Irish Regions and Counties Scenarios and Implications (ESRI 2018) 3 Which requires employment uses development to follow the ‘hierarchy‘ Wexford County Council P a g e | 4 support the development of existing sectoral and area based strengths and/or create synergies with existing employers’ and refer to the ‘availability of appropriate ready-to-go property solutions’. WCC welcomes the focus on Rosslare Europort and the recognition that it is a strategic national asset. The stated support for the upgrade of the port from Tier 2 to Tier 1 is also welcomed. Investment in Rosslare Europort needs to be urgently prioritised with a focus on infrastructure to develop freight handling and logistics, port deepening and expansion, an upgrade of the Terminal and public realm enhancement at the port, along with investments to improve connectivity to the port, e.g. by road-the M11 Oilgate-Rosslare and the Rosslare Harbour road scheme; and by rail-the enhancement of commuter services, electrification and increased rail freight. There is also a need to focus on developing and enhancing the settlement of Rosslare Harbour to support and maximise the potential offered by the port. WCC requests that the reference to the ‘Port Review’ should be developed to reference the future development and expansion of the port. WCC is progressing the development of a greenway from Rosslare Europort to Waterford to interconnect with the Waterford Greenway and the New Ross Greenway. The proposal is to develop the greenway along the out- of-service rail line from Rosslare (Strand) to Waterford. It is important, from Wexford’s perspective, that the RSES does not become a bar to the greenway project proceeding. Wexford County Council P a g e | 5 1.0 Introduction Wexford County Council (WCC) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Southern Region (RSES) and acknowledges the inclusion in the RSES of elements of previous submissions made by WCC at earlier stages in the process. The RSES is being prepared at crucial juncture in spatial and economic planning in Ireland being the first such strategy subsequent to the National Planning Framework (NPF), the reordering of regional governance and the change in local government functions as a result of Local Government Reform Act 2014. It is an unprecedented opportunity to align spatial and economic planning to the benefit of the region, its people and environment. 2.0 Strategic Vision, People and Places WCC welcomes the holistic objectives which form the strategy outlined in Section 2.2 and consider that they will positively influence the sustainable development of the region. However, it is considered that the RSES would benefit from a more defined strategy which its dynamics clearly outlined This section should be explicit in stating what the strategy is and how it will achieve its vision and deliver effective regional development to the benefit of the whole region.