boyle local area plan 2012 - 2018 - Roscommon County Council

PART II: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR 2012 – 2018 & BEYOND Chapter 8: Urban Development
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.
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 also 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 20 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 Boyle, the density of existing development will be
taken into consideration and where appropriate higher
densities will be encouraged. Densities may decrease
further from the town core and may fall below 20 per
hectare 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
which will be met:
‣ a reduction in the need for transportation and
travelling;
‣ making more efficient use of the land resource
available in Boyle;
‣ 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 in sustainable
development.
As outlined in Chapter 2, the population increase
between 2011 and 2017, based on minimum population
targets, is 299 persons. The total number of residential
units required over the period 2011 – 2017 is indicated
at 120 units with a projected average household size of
2.5 (even though the figure given in the 2006 census
was 2.6 for aggregate town areas in County
Roscommon). These are then used to calculate the total
zoned housing land required over the period 2011 –
2017 (incorporating a 50% over zoning, as per the
Development Plan guidelines) 1 (120+60) i.e.180
units/households. Therefore, the land requirement
calculated at a density of 20 units (which is the
1 Development Plans – Guidelines for Planning Authorities
(2007), Department of the Envoronment, Heritage & Local
Government.
average for the Boyle LAP area) per Ha is
approximately 9ha.
The population increase between 2017 and 2023, based
on minimum population targets, is approximately 308
persons. The total number of residential units required
over the period 2017 – 2023 is indicated at
approximately 123 units with a projected average
household size of 2.5 (even though the figure given in
the 2006 census was 2.6 for aggregate town area in
County Roscommon). These are then used to calculate
the total zoned housing land required over the period
2017 – 2023 (incorporating a 50% over zoning, as per
the Development Plan guidelines) 2 (123+62) i.e. 185.
Therefore, the land requirement calculated at a
density of 20 units (which is the average for the
Boyle LAP area) per Ha is approximately 9.25 Ha.
As recommended within the guidelines, Sustainable
Residential Development in Urban Areas (DEHLG,
December 2008), a phasing programme is proposed
within this LAP to “ensure that the physical and social
infrastructure required is provided in tandem to
residential development.”
The sequential approach indicates lands zoned for new
development extending outwards from the centre of an
urban area taking account of optimum locations within
serviced areas into consideration. This approach also
aims to consolidate development as much as possible in
the area. The phasing programme for this LAP is set out
in Table 8 below and in order to establish this phasing
the sequential approach was used, whilst permitted
development and infill opportunities were also
considered. Therefore not all of the phased land follows
a direct sequential approach, as permitted development
and appropriate infill opportunities are also included.
Vacancy levels for constructed dwellings in Boyle have
Boyle Local Area Plan 2012 – 2018 Page 98