Kilkenny County Council July 2010

1.4 National, Regional and County Strategies
Fiddown Draft Local Area Plan
The National Spatial Strategy sets out a framework for the future development of the country.
Having regard to the national guidelines, the South-East Regional Authority prepared
guidelines for the period 2004-2010; a review of the guidelines has been carried out and the
Draft Regional Planning Guidelines for the South-East Region 2010-2022 have been
prepared. These guidelines set out a strategy for the location of development in the region,
which identifies Kilkenny City as a hub, and Waterford City as a gateway. The most recent
review of the guidelines proposes a slower rate of growth, than previously envisaged by the
guidelines for the period 2004-2010, and reduced population targets for each of the counties
in the region. This will impact on the settlement strategy for the county and on the review of
this local area plan.
The Regional Planning guidelines recognise the extensive network of smaller towns and
villages across the regions that play particularly important roles as service/ retail/ residential
centres. These towns and villages need to be developed in a way that respects their existing
character while at the same time strengthening their role as local services centres. Achieving
the right balance between encouraging development in towns and village and the scale and
nature of such development is critical.
At the county level the Kilkenny County Development Plan 2008-2014 sets out the
development framework for the county. The Council’s strategy seeks to develop a strong
vibrant and sustainable rural community living in the towns and villages and smaller
settlements and in the open countryside. Designated towns and villages were identified in the
County Development Plan having regard to their ability to sustain growth, the Council’s
investment programme and the need for an equitable geographical distribution. Within the
County Development Plan, Fiddown is designated as a ‘Small Town/ Village’ in the Council’s
settlement hierarchy in line with the overall strategy as set out in the South East Regional
Planning Guidelines (refer to Figure 2 for the location of Fiddown in the County Kilkenny
settlement hierarchy).
The hierarchy extends in descending order of size and growth areas as follows:
� Gateway – Waterford City Environs
� Hub - Kilkenny
� Large Town – New Ross Environs
� District Towns – Callan, Castlecomer, Graiguenamangh and Thomastown
� Smaller Towns and Villages – includes Fiddown
� Smaller Settlements
Policies stated in the County Development Plan for Smaller Towns and Villages are as
follows:
PS10 To strengthen the service centre role of smaller towns and villages.
PS11 To ensure that new residential development in smaller towns and villages is of a
design, layout, character and scale which fit well with the town or village involved and
presents a high quality living environment.
PS12 To revitalize existing villages through the promotion of development within them
(particularly on infill sites, vacant sites and on backlands), in preference to continued
ribbon development on the approach roads. This will promote the efficient use of
available public infrastructure and services.
5