Southern Assembly concerned over plan discrepancies
The Southern Regional Assembly, Gladstone St, Waterford City.
The Southern Regional Assembly has expressed concern over discrepancies in the current draft of the National Planning Framework (NPF), and its impact on Waterford.
The Assembly has identified that Waterford and other parts of the South East region are set to receive far less than their Dublin equivalents.
Director of the Southern Regional Assembly David Kelly told the Waterford News & Star that regional parity is not possible without adequate investment in Waterford.
He stated: "Achieving regional parity is essential for Ireland as a whole to ensure that equitable outcomes are aligned with national policy, while also easing the unsustainable pressures on the Dublin area. Our key concern, however, is that currently there is not a coherent alignment between the objectives within the NPF and the investment necessary to deliver on these.
"The NPF places particular emphasis on the four cities of Waterford, Limerick, Cork and Galway for growth but without the commitment and progress on major infrastructure projects this ambition can’t be achieved.
"The revised NPF should be strengthened significantly to acknowledge and address the lack of alignment between the regional parity approach and the structural and funding model to achieve this objective."
Mr Kelly highlighted the difference in investment costs between Dublin and Waterford: "Analysis undertaken by the Southern Regional Assembly has identified that under the National Development Plan 2021 to 2030, our region and cities are set to receive substantially less investment per head of population than the Dublin metropolitan area. Planned investment in the Waterford metropolitan area amounts to circa €7,000 per head of population, compared to planned investment in the Dublin metropolitan area of €19,000 per head of population."
Mr Kelly cautioned that Waterford and the South East needs better infrastructure as the population rises.
He said: "The recent census results has shown that the trajectory of growth to the Dublin area continues and without the necessary support for our other cities, Waterford in the South East, and our key towns to address the infrastructure deficiencies and under delivery of housing this trajectory won’t change."
Cathaoirleach of the Southern Regional Assembly, Cllr Garret Kelleher said: “The realisation of this potential through meaningful capital investment in Cork, Limerick-Shannon, Waterford and our rural areas would achieve the stated objective of providing an effective counterbalance to the greater Dublin area and would also have significant long term sustainability benefits."
