elphin local area plan 2009 - 2015 - Roscommon County Council

Chapter 9: Urban Development
Street. Due to the linear nature of the settlement there is no definite town centre or core. The Planning
Authority will encourage the vitality of the town through the refurbishment and replacement of buildings,
where appropriate. Small pockets of infill development and individual replacement residential units,
within the town centre, will also be encouraged. Appropriate higher density development in appropriate
locations, on serviced land, will also be encouraged.
The majority of existing residential development in the Elphin LAP area consists of privately owned
single-storey and two-storey dwellings. Two-storey is the predominant house type. There are several
recently constructed residential estates in the area and it is estimated that a significant portion of future
development will be of a similar scale and nature. There is a need to improve the connectivity and
accessibility of a number of recent residential developments in the area with Elphin Town.
Town centre locations are suitable for appropriate increased densities and increased populations will assist
in urban regeneration, make more intensive use of existing infrastructure, support local services and
employment, and encourage affordable housing provision. Increased populations will also assist in
sustaining alternative modes of travel, such as walking, cycling and public transport. Densities which
reinforce street patterns can assist in retaining the character of towns and villages.
The scale of historic and more recent residential development trends in County Roscommon indicate that
residential dwelling densities have, as a rule of thumb, not exceeded 10 dwellings per hectare, even in the
more developed parts of County. County Roscommon is by nature a predominantly rural area, where a
significant proportion of residential development is in rural locations.
In towns such as Elphin densities which reinforce street patterns are acceptable. A lower density is often
acceptable for places such as Elphin. Taking these densities into consideration, where appropriate higher
densities will be encouraged, however densities may be lower further from the town core and may fall
below 8 per acre in limited circumstances on serviced land, in order to act as an alternative to the
provision of one-off rural housing.
When planning for the intensification and rationalisation of the existing residential footprint of the town it
is imperative to consider the following objectives and principles of sustainable development:
a reduction in the need for transportation and traveling;
the promotion of higher density residential development, thereby making more efficient use of the
land resource available in Elphin;
reduction in the extent of urban expansion and sprawl, combined with the avoidance of and
safeguarding against urban coalescence, which results from a loss of distinction between urban
and rural areas; and
promotion of development on ‘brown-field’ sites thereby reducing the need for new development
on ‘green-field’ sites;
These objectives meet with the aspirations of national and local policy as well as best practice on
sustainable development, including the key publication on ‘Sustainable Development: A Strategy for
Ireland’.
The LAP takes a detailed look at Elphin, identifying and analysing the various issues of relevance, before
establishing and setting out principles for the future development of the area. The purpose of this LAP is
to set out objectives for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area. It sets out a
framework for the optimal development of the land within the envelope taking into consideration the
requirements for residential development, social and community infrastructure, physical infrastructure,
economic and industrial development and the needs for greenbelt/environmental corridors to link various
uses.
Elphin Local Area Plan 2009-2015 Page 93