VILLAGE PLANS - Offaly County Council

OFFALY COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2009 - 2015
Volume 2 - Settlement Plans
intended that the area delineated will: -
• Foster the creation of a more coherent
settlement with adequate critical mass to
maintain / improve local service provision.
• Cater for a small number of small in-depth
housing schemes.
• Encourage commercial development, which is
appropriate in terms of scale, use and location
within the village.
• Contain development in order to bring some
form to the settlement and engender a sense of
place.
Rhode has a distinctive and traditionally diverse
character which is highly valued by its residents. Future
growth and expansion can be achieved through
developing this area’s residential function, but primarily
by promoting its economic role as a sustainable rural
village with its own local services, which facilitate the
local community and its surrounding rural environs,
whilst at the same time constraining rapid expansion
resulting from this village’s proximity to the Greater
Dublin Area. As the village continues to evolve, this
process of change must be positively managed so that
the distinctiveness of this village’s identity can be
protected and enhanced, whilst managing future
growth and new development.
Rhode’s proximity to the main Dublin – Galway Road
(M6), located c.10km to the north, has influenced the
village’s expansion, particularly in recent years. The
population of Rhode village increased by 63% over the
period 1996-2006 i.e. from 476 persons to 778 persons.
This very significant growth rate is reflective of the
increasing pressure which the north of the County has
been experiencing, given its proximity to the Greater
Dublin Area.
National Spatial Strategy (NSS)
The NSS, (adopted in 2002), is Ireland’s overarching
framework plan which provides a strategic vision for the
spatial development of the country through the
promotion of balanced regional development.
The NSS identifies Rhode within its ‘village
strengthening and rural areas opportunities’category. It
outlines how the promotion of tourism and recreational
activity, which is complimentary to the agricultural
sector, offers future potential in such villages. It also
states that by enabling villages to attract residential and
other developments through availability of land and
capacity of services, that residential and other functions
of this settlement can be strengthened.
Further to this, the National Spatial Strategy recognises
that many worked out bogs in the Midlands are suited
to wind energy development which would support
ancillary manufacturing, servicing and development
activities, a factor which may assist in supporting and
maintaining Rhode as a sustainable settlement.
Midland Regional Planning Guidelines
The Midlands Regional Planning Guidelines, (MRPGs),
(adopted in 2004 due to be reviewed in 2010) are in
accordance with the NSS, and seek to ensure that the
Midlands Region ‘achieves its potential for enhanced,
balanced and sustainable development and contributes
towards the national objective of balanced regional
development’.
Rhode village is included in the ‘eastern development
area’ of the RPGs for the Midlands Region and is
associated with the population increase which has been
identified as being more pronounced on the eastern
side of the region, primarily due to the influence of the
Greater Dublin Area (GDA). Within this area, it is set out
in the Guidelines that any major population increases
should be targeted to the nearby ‘key service towns’, i.e.
Edenderry and Portarlington.
Further to this, the RPGs state that links, particularly
with the central midlands area (to the gateway and the
principal towns), must be strengthened so as to reduce
the pull of the Greater Dublin Area which is currently
experienced in this eastern area of the region.
The RPGs are consistent with the NSS in stating the
necessity of protecting villages such as Rhode. The
Guidelines also highlight that significant levels of
development of urban generated housing in such
villages, which could be accommodated in nearby
urban areas (e.g. Edenderry), should be controlled. The
fundamentals of village development lie in the
consolidation of development within the village rather
than large-scale growth.
Rhode’s specific role as a village is in providing a range
of local services to support the viability of its rural
community and surrounding hinterland. This should be
February 2009 | Rhode Village Plan | page 141