Sligo County Development Plan 2024-2030

Consultation on Draft Ministerial Direction

in the matter of Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended)

25 November to 9 December 2024

On 8 November 2024, Alan Dillon, the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, gave notice of his intention to issue a direction to Sligo County Council to take certain measures regarding the Sligo County Development Plan 2024-2030, consequent to a recommendation made by the Office of the Planning Regulator on 27 October 2024.

The Minister’s notice was accompanied by a draft of the Direction and a request to publish notice of the Draft Direction no later than two weeks after receipt of the Minister's notice.

The Statement of Reasons for the Draft Direction is included at the end of this notice.

Draft Direction

The Draft Direction will be available to view on Sligo County Council’s Consultation Portal at consult.sligococo.ie from 25 November to 9 December 2024.

Printed copies can be inspected at the following locations:

Planning Department, City Hall, Quay Street - 10 am to 4 pm

Sligo County Library - during normal opening hours

Tobercurry Library, Teach Laighne - during normal opening hours

Ballymote and Enniscrone Branch Libraries - during normal opening hours

Enniscrone, Tobercurry and Ballymote Area Offices - during normal opening hours

Printed copies of the Draft Direction may be ordered for purchase from Sligo County Council’s Planning Office, City Hall, Quay Street, Sligo (Telephone 071 911 4440).

Submissions

Written submissions or observations regarding the Draft Direction only may be made in writing from 25 November until 4 pm to 9 December 2024.

Submissions and observations made to the Planning Authority shall be taken into consideration by the Office of the Planning Regulator before it makes a recommendation to the Minister on the matter.

Submissions should be made through the Council’s Consultation Portal at consult.sligococo.ie.

Although NOT recommended, submissions may be emailed to cdp@sligococo.ie or posted to:

Ms. Siobhán Gillen
Administrative Officer
Planning Section, Sligo County Council
City Hall, Quay Street, Sligo, F91 Y763

All submissions will be redacted, if necessary (to comply with GDPR), and made available for public viewing on the Council’s Consultation Portal.

Submissions will be accepted until 4 pm on Monday, 9 December 2024. Late submissions will not be taken into consideration.

Dorothy Clarke
Director of Planning, Heritage, Community and Economic Development

STATEMENT OF REASONS

1. The County Development Plan as made includes material alterations to the draft County Development Plan for zoning objectives in peripheral and/or non- sequential, and/or unserviced locations, and/or outside the relevant CSO settlement boundaries, and/or do not conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of County Sligo, providing additional residential land in excess of what is required under the growth targets of the core strategy for Sligo Town, Grange, Enniscrone, Ballysadare, Strandhill, Curry and Gorteen.
   
   The zoning objectives and material alterations would individually and cumulatively encourage a pattern of development in particular locations which is inconsistent with the core strategy of the County Development Plan, NPO 3c, NPO 18a, NPO 60, NPO 72a-c of the National Planning Framework (NPF), RPO 3.2(b), RPO 3.7.39, RPO 5.14 of the RSES, and section 10(2)(n) of the Act concerning the promotion of sustainable settlement and transport strategies and the obligations under the Climate Action and the Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as amended (the Climate Act), and fails to have regard to the policy and objective for settlement capacity audits and the policy and objective for sequential zoning under the Development Plans, Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2022) (the Development Plans Guidelines).
2. The County Development Plan as made also includes material alterations to the draft Plan, which zone additional land for Tourism in the area of Enniscrone and Easky, and for Business/Industry/Enterprise in the area of Ballysadare which can accommodate a range of high intensity employment uses. These zoning objectives are located in peripheral and unserviced locations, outside the relevant CSO settlement boundaries and would encourage a pattern of development that is inconsistent with NPO 18a and NPO 74 to align the NPF and the NDP through the delivery of National Strategic Outcomes including NSO 1 compact growth and NSO 2 Enhanced Regional Accessibility, NPO 72a- c tiered approach to zoning, RPO 6.5 of the RSES to protect the strategic transport function of national roads, and section 10(2)(n) of the Act concerning the promotion of sustainable settlement and transport strategies and the obligations under the Climate Act, and fails to have regard to the policy and objective for sequential zoning under the Development Plans Guidelines and section 2.5 of National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2012) (National Roads Guidelines).
3. The County Development Plan as made includes material alterations to zone land for vulnerable and highly vulnerable uses in Sligo Town, Easky, Ballinafad, Curry and Gorteen which lands are partially located within flood zone A and/or B, inconsistent with NPO 57 to avoid inappropriate development in all areas at risk of flooding in accordance with the Flood Risk Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2009), and RPO 10 to implement the recommendations of the Flood Guidelines.
4. The County Development Plan as made includes a material amendment to introduce text into section 9.1 of the Plan which provides for direct vehicular access onto national primary roads in certain circumstances inconsistent with NPO 74 to align the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan through the delivery of National Strategic Outcomes including NSO 2 Enhanced Regional Accessibility, and RPO 6.5 to give effect to NSO 2 and to maintain the strategic capacity and safety of the national road network, and fails to have regard to sections 2.5 and 2.6 of the Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines to maintain the capacity, efficiency and safety of national roads, avoiding the creation of any additional access point from new development or the generation of increased traffic from existing accesses to national roads to which speed limits greater than 60 km/h apply.
5. Further, the statement under Section 28(1A)(b) attached to the Development Plan as made fails to include information that demonstrates that the planning authority has formed the opinion that it is not possible to implement the policies and objectives contained in the Development Plans Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2022), and/or in the Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines and/or in The Planning System and Flood Risk Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2009) because of the nature and characteristics of the area or part of the area and to give reasons for the forming of that opinion and to explain why it is not possible to implement the policies and objectives of the Minister, contrary to Section 28(1B)(b);
6. The Development Plan has not been made in a manner consistent with, and has failed to implement, the recommendations of the Office of the Planning Regulator made under section 31AM of the Act.
7. The Minister is of the opinion that the Development Plan as made is not consistent with the objectives of the RSES, contrary to section 10(1A) and section 27(1) of the Act.
8. The Minister is of the opinion that the Development Plan as made is not consistent with National Policy Objectives 3c, 18a, 57, 60, 72a – c and 74 of the National Planning Framework.
9. The Minister is of the opinion that the Development Plan as made fails to set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
10. The Development Plan is not in compliance with the requirements of the Act.