Response to County Development Plan 2015- 2022 V1.0

Forward Planning Department

Galway County Council

16/02/2017

A Chara

We would like to add some observations and additions to the county development plan with regarding to Craughwell village as part of the 2015 – 2022 development plan response.

Craughwell is a village and in , Ireland. The name is composed of two Irish words: creach, meaning in this case "plunder", and maol, which is a word for a round hill or mountain, bare of trees.

This document references sections of the “Craughwell Local Area Plan 2009-2015” adopted 7th September 2009 and proposes a set of items for consideration in next local area plan (LAP) for Craughwell. On review of the development there were a number of items that were not clear, however as part of the response we will like to elaborate on a number of topics that were not clear from the exiting proposed 2015 – 2022 development plan.

The topics discussed in this document will include:

 Craughwell waste treatment infrastructure (in light of the recent Dunkellin river flood works)  Transport infrastructure to Craughwell national school  Simulation of the tourism industry around the village and hinterland

In this document we present a number of options for your consideration in relation to Craughwell village. Feel free to reach out team at [email protected]

Kind Regards

[email protected]

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Response to Galway County Development Plan 2015- 2022

County Development Plan and Craughwell

The County Development Plan has adopted a six tiered system which lays out the settlement hierarchy with in Galway.

Craughwell village is included in the ***Other villages. Villages in this hierarchy include , , Baile Chláir, , An Cheathrú Rua, , , Craughwell, Corofin, Moyl ough, , , An Spidéal, and . They have strong settlement structures and have the potential to support additional growth, offering an alternative living option for those people who do not wish to reside in the larger key towns and do not meet the housing need requirements for the rural area. The wastewater treatment facilities in some of these towns/villages require investment and therefore it is considered that their inclusion at this level in the hierarchy will provide a plan-led approach to securing this investment in the future.

This will paper focus on Craughwell village only. The topics are presented are in three themes; sewage, transport and tourism management.

In this document we provide potential solutions, which with the support of the Galway County Council which can deliver value to the community of Craughwell village and the surrounding areas.

The follow table provides a description of the themes

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Theme Discussion point Sewage Craughwell treatment and sewage works Transport Extension of the footpath from Craughwell village to Craughwell National School Transport Parking Solution from Craughwell national school Tourism Simulation of the tourism through the villages/towns of east Galway

This items are discussed in detail below

Sewage - Craughwell treatment and sewage works The wastewater treatment plant have been proposed in previous county plans and encountered a number of challenges during the original consultations circa 2008. The following is a section from the Galway County Council planning web site.

So what has changed since 2008? A number of changes have occurred since the original proposed plant under part 8 of the original plan.

These changes include:

 Risk of the damage to treatment plant due to flooding has been mitigated  Additional environment controls were incorporate into the original proposed solution  Increases environmental awareness and advances in waste management technology

Socio-environment drivers for revisiting the Craughwell treatment works

There is a number of drivers that support the revisiting of this objective specified in a previous plan. The following table outlines the responses to the challenges raised by the original proposal

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Challenges Response Flooding/pollution risk due to flood on Turlough The most recent Dunkellin river scheme has significantly reduced significantly reduce risk of flooding and causing pollution of the Turlough. If the original proposed location of the treatment plant is retained then the current Dunkellin river works will prevent damage to the core for the treatment plant.

The population is growing in village as per draft plan In 21th century a modern co-ordinate sewage treatment capital investment will enable the population to grow without impacting on an environmental sensitive area.

Multiple treatment solutions versus a municipal A modern well management municipal treatment central plant infrastructure will provide more protection than individual(s) and group treatment plans

Extensions to the original proposal In the original proposals a number of limitations were observed during the community consultation

 Extension of the sewage work through extend directly to the School and also the key community/sporting areas  There was a concern about the pollution of the Turlough from the treatment plant itself. This was mitigated by the implementation of the reed-based filters around the plant (as per correspondence of the planning web site for the original plant)  Environment protection versus environment awareness. As a Turlough currently has no observation points. An extension is to build a viewing area from near the treatment plant that supports the monitoring/education of the SAC. This feature will also support the 2020 eco-tourism strategy

Simulation of the tourism through the villages and poss ibly the extension of the Wild Atlantic way upstream. This is discussed later in this document. The next section outlines transport support requirements.

Transport - Extension of the footpath from Craughwell village to Craughwell National School

As per existing footpath infrastructure today, Craughwell national school is not connected with the main village with a footpath. There is number of case for extending the footpath from the village directly to the national school.

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The “National Guidelines on Physical Activity for Ireland” recommend a set of guidelines for both children and adults to increase brisk walks.

The primary social drivers for extending the footpath include:

• Promote physical activity within children by enabling them to safely walk or cycle to the national school safely.

• Promote activity within parent(s) that might choose to walk their children to and from school.

• Provide an extended footpath infrastructure that local running communities can use as part of their running routes Solution Considerations As well as the obvious financial challenges to a solution will also be a number of technical/environmental challenges including:

• Building a bridge over the railway track • Additional light pollution from the extended footpath. Building the Bridge over the railway tack

We believe that a bridge should be built over the track to enable the children and adult have access to the amenities from the village. The design of the bridge should add value to the village through architectural innovation possibility adopting a glass-bridge style of architecture. However the primary goals to enable the public to cross safely. Reduce light pollution emissions

The addition of footpath and adequate lighting can potentially introduce additional light pollution to the area. However, advances in lighting technology have also seen the introduction of in-ground flush LED lighting for paths and walkways. We propose that this lighting is considered as part of the original architectural proposals.

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Transport - Parking Solution from Craughwell national school

The national school at Craughwell has seen a significant growth in the pupil population and have a submitted plans to enhance the architecture of the school.

The primary challenges with the growth of the school have been the provision of parking solution we enable parents and children get safely to school.

The safest solution will be to build a car park near/drop are near the school that does not:

a. Contravene right-of-way of exiting folios b. Does not across roads c. Is connected to footpath structure described above

We assume under a review that a number of options will uncover a number of options. The most obvious solution is to explore the feasibility of using the folio identified in the diagram below.

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Tourism - Simulation of the tourism through the villages/towns of east Galway

One of the primary basis for the creation of a vibrant tourist economy is to develop a strategy for increasing foot fall. The towns of east Galway are currently outside the reach of the Wild Atlantic way. This section provides an approach to extending the Wild Atlantic Way inlands by creating a historical/heritage/folklore corridor. The tourism approach can also be integrate with our cycling strategy.

Building a cultural corridor from 2000+ year of history

The natural landscape does not present a significant amount of the viewpoints, however the landscape does have rich heritage/folklore. The solution to enhance the local tourism industry will be to augment the landscape with heritage related points of information.

The areas along the rivers (Dunkellin, Clarin Rivers) have a significant amount of history/folklore and heritage spanning 2000+ years. A significant number of amount of forts along the Dunkellin River tell the story of rich pre-history and it also speculated that the sea at one point reached Rahasane Turlough.

This history extends along the rivers to Kiltullagh/ Turoe and also the hypnotized oppida zip zagging across the landscape. and have their foundations steeped in medieval history.

The early Iron Age structures has been mostly levelled and the material re-purposed. The proposed mobile augmented really (AR) technology will be applied to re-generate the structures to their previous glory.

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This will enable new types of tourist flows through the towns and village of east Galway. In the context of small village like Craughwell, candidate augmented tours may include illustrated guide to the blazers, tour of ringfort of Isercleran, a tour of the land war or a poetry tour for Antoine Ó Raifteiri amongst others.

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