Defining moment in town’s future
Dear Sir,
SOME 20 years ago I met and fell in love with a man from Drogheda. Little did I know that this romance would also bring me to a new home town. For the first three years that I lived in Drogheda, I didn’t know much about the town. I was one of the hundreds who ran into the station each morning to catch a train to Dublin.
My love affair with Drogheda began when I stopped commuting and started my business here. I fell in love with the people and the place in equal measure. I saw the decimation of the dark days of the 1980’s but I also saw the resilience of the people.
I heard people talk about Drogheda’s omission from the National Spatial Strategy 2002-2020. I knew by the slowly shaking heads and the defeated looks that this was not good news. And so it was. Investment in infrastructure that was earmarked for Drogheda was reallocated to other towns around Ireland, that bore the Gateway status.
But we rolled on. We worked with what we had. And then the next recession hit and floored us. Job losses, business closures, emigration – an awfully grim decade for us and many other towns around Ireland. We gathered ourselves, worked together. We formed networks of like-minded people and supported each other and did what we could to drive growth. There have been some wins along the way – the opening of The Mill Enterprise Hub and its subsequent doubling in size, phase one of the Boyneside Trail, winning Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for Drogheda in 2018, the rise in youth entrepreneurship and tech development, the formation of the M1 Payments Corridor. All good signs.
But Drogheda’s facing a new challenge. And at the time of year when we’re surrounded by zombies, we’re at risk of sleep-walking into our next big obstacle … and people power is needed to prevent this.
The draft version of the National Planning Framework has been published. This document puts in place a new national and regional development strategy. It’s linked to a new 10-year National Investment Plan. It incorporates more environmentally focussed planning and makes state lands available for strategic purposes. The Framework seeks to ensure that through good planning, “Ireland will continue on a path of economic, environmental and social progress that will improve our prosperity, sustainability and well-being”.
For as long as I can remember, we’ve wrung our hands, shaken our heads and lamented the absence of any planning or the impacts of bad planning in this country. So, a 20-year strategic plan designed to “deliver sustainable development of places in Ireland through planning, investment and implementation” should be good news. Shouldn’t it?
In principle, I think it’s a great idea. I’m all for good, long term planning back by both legislation and money.
But, here’s the rub. In the plan, Drogheda is counted as a large town i.e. a population of 10,000 or more. In the National Planning Framework, a “city” is considered a settlement with a population of 50,000 or more people. Drogheda is, in everything but name, already a city.
In the 2016 Census, the CSO calculated that 43,000 people live within the Drogheda Borough boundary. This does not include the 6,000+ plus people living in housing estates in the county Meath part of the town (of which I am one). The Northern Environs Plan for Drogheda, will see major new housing developments commencing in the coming years and will swell our population by another 15,000 people in the next ten years. And to top it all, there are thousands of people that live in towns and villages surrounding Drogheda that rely on Drogheda for health, public services, public transport and much more. Our town, unbeknownst to many outside of it, is Ireland’s next city.
So why should we care if we are classified as a town or a city? Well, the plan is based on the five cities Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford each growing twice as much in the next 20 years as they did in the previous 25 years. Each of the 5 cities have designated actions and targets to facilitate their development. Structured development, creation of jobs, delivery of services needs a plan. And a plan is clearly set out for each of them. But not for Ireland’s next city, Drogheda.
There is mention that “Government wishes to capitalise upon and further support and promote the inherent economic potential of the Dublin-Belfast corridor, building upon existing strengths”. But that still doesn’t recognise the position of Drogheda as Ireland’s next city.
The National Planning Framework is a legally binding document that will be used by the agencies of the state to guide and direct planning and investment. It is crucial that the people of this region make our voices heard. And you can play your part.
Visit www.npf.ie today. You can see the draft version of the National Planning Framework. But you can also make your views known by making a submission on www.npf.ie/share-your-views. You can also send a written submission to NPF Submission, Forward Planning Section, Dept. of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Custom House, Dublin D01 W6X0. Deadline for submissions is noon on Friday 3rd November.
This is our opportunity to make our voices heard. This is our chance to show what a positive, progressive town we are and how our growth and development must not be stunted by exclusion from this plan. We are Ireland’s next city and we need to be featured in this plan.
Remember, we’re not looking for a favour. We’re not looking for special treatment. We’re looking to ensure that Drogheda is rightfully included in Ireland’s most important strategic plan. Make your voice heard, don’t assume that someone else will do it! Yours, Karen Devine: a blow-in who fell in love with Drogheda.