01. Newcasle West Local Area Plan ( pdf file - 3593 kb in size)

NEWCASTLE WEST Local Area Plan 2008Manufacturing has played a major role in the localemployment sector in Newcastle West. The largestmanufacturing industry is Ballygowan Water Ltd. Recentclosures of other manufacturing plants, includingCastlemahon Poultry Processing Plant, Kantoher KerryFoods (Poultry), S&S Foods and O’Reilly Foods have raisedconcerns in the community in relation to the retention ofemployment in the area.Public Sector services such as St. Ita’s Hospital, schoolsand Council Area Offices provide other large employmentbases.The Shannon Development Lands to the north of NewcastleWest, zoned Industrial within the 2001 Plan, remain mostlyundeveloped to date. This represents a large land bank in asuitable location to expand industrial enterprise within thetown.3.5 Access and MovementVehicle CirculationThe N21 Limerick to Killarney Road passing throughNewcastle West causes major traffic congestion issuesthroughout the year, but particular in the summer monthswith tourist traffic travelling to and from County Kerry. TheRegional and Local roads converging on the Squarecontribute to the congestion experienced in the core retailarea, which has been recognised through communityconsultation as one of the key issues facing the town. Theneed for a town bypass is considered essential tosignificantly improve the town centre environment forpedestrians and ease of movement for local motorists.Local Distributor RoadIn October of 2006 the Council sought a variation to theexisting LAP to introduce a new ‘Southern Distributor Road’,intended to serve local transport needs and to facilitatefuture development within the town.The alignment as proposed in this document extends aroundthe southern boundary of this plan.N21 BypassThe proposed N21 Bypass for Newcastle West is currentlyat the preliminary design phase only. To date it isunderstood that NRA funding has been allocated for aconstraints and feasibility study for N21 improvementsbypassing both Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale to theCounty Boundary. A broad constraints corridor has beenestablished and the Preliminary Design work will identifypreferred route corridors and options, estimated to bepresented for public consultation in 2008 at the earliest.ParkingA high proportion of parking in the commercial core is onstreetin Market Place, with a private car park at Supervaluand an adjoining public car park in Church Street. Theexisting on-street parking is at a premium and can contributeto haphazard traffic movements. A limited number of privatecar parks exist outside the central area, including Tesco, Lidland the Council Area office.At peak times, traffic congestion can be heavy around theBoher Bui and other school locations.Public TransportAn hourly Bus Eireann Service operates between NewcastleWest and Limerick (journey time 50 mins.) and to Tralee(journey time 1 hour 20 mins.), running from 9.00am to8.00pm.The Limerick – Tralee Railway Line to the north of the townwas closed in 1963, and there are no known plans forpassenger services to be resumed in the foreseeable future.3.6 Service InfrastructureWater SupplyThe Newcastle West water supply is sourced from the watertreatment works located to the southeast of the town atCastlemahon. General Water usage of the town is currently600,000 gallons per day approximately, and the system isoperating at almost 100% capacity.The Council presently has a project underway to supplementthe existing town water supply, due to recent growth inhousing, through a bored well at Tobergal, southwest ofNewcastle West, which is intended to provide asupplementary supply for the summer months.The upgrading of the existing water treatment plant is themain priority on capital projects schedule to increase theoverall capacity of the plant, extracting from River Deel atCastlemahon to ensure adequate supply for most of theyear, supplemented by the Tobergal Well.16 Section 3: CHARACTER and LAND USE APPRAISAL