elphin local area plan 2009 - 2015 - Roscommon County Council

10.24.1 National and Regional Roads
Chapter 10: Development Management Guidelines and Standards
The National Road network should provide safe and efficient links between the principle towns and
villages and thus contribute significantly to the economic prosperity of the county and state as a whole.
Chapter 6 of the RCDP 2008 – 2014 provides specific policies and objectives with regard to development
on National and Regional Routes.
The policy relates primarily to proposed developments located on national roads outside the 50 kph speed
limit zones for towns and villages, but also addresses development proposals planned for other locations
which, because of their potential to generate high volumes of traffic, could have significant implications
for national roads in the area concerned. Development control shall seek to channel traffic from new
development onto existing local roads and in this way use established access points to gain entry onto
national roads and shall have regard to the Policy Statement on Development Management and Access to
National Roads published by the NRA (National Roads Authority) in 2006.
10.24.2 Sightlines
As per the current, NRA Road Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, the prescribed sight distance where
the maximum speed limit applies, is measured 3 metres back from the carriageway edge and are as
follows:
County Roads
Regional Roads
National Roads
90 metres
150 metres
230 metres
Further guidance concerning development on non-national routes is available in the publication “Aspects
of Road Safety a County Engineers View” (IEI)
New houses in rural areas should seek to utilise existing access points onto roads in the interests of road
safety to assist in maintaining the rural character of the area.
10.24.3 Public Transport
The council shall fully support the RTI scheme in Roscommon and acknowledges the contribution that the
Artbus RTI (Ardcarne Rural Transport) and Aughrim-Kilmore RTI have made to rural communities in
the north-west and north-east of Roscommon respectively and will encourage any attempts to expand this
scheme to other parts of the county. Proactive efforts will be made by the council to consolidate
development in areas which have a close proximity to public transport services
The Council shall encourage developments that attempt to harness the benefits that would be derived from
establishing new commuter rail links that may be proposed. The Council supports the creation of a
Provincial Bus Service as proposed in the Regional Planning Guidelines for the West 2004 – 2016.
10.25 RENEWABLE ENERGY/EFFICIENCY (To be read in conjunction with Chapter 4)
The Council is committed to encouraging the use and development of renewable energy sources in the
County. Regard will be had to guidelines in dealing with wind energy proposals in so far as they impact
on the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, as detailed in Wind Energy Development
Guidelines (2006). Regard will also be had to the ‘European Best Practice Guidelines for Wind Energy
Development’, (European Wind Energy Association). The development of renewable energy sources,
together with measures aimed at a reduction and more efficient use of energy, are priorities, nationally and
at European level. The EU Directive on renewable energy requires that Ireland produce 13.5% of its
electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
Elphin Local Area Plan 2009-2015 Page 145