Work continues on Sligo’s new County Development Plan

WORK on the next Sligo County Development Plan, 2024 to 2030, which was first circulated in draft format to councillors last September continues with elected members meeting twice this month, April 15 and 22, to consider the draft plan.

The proposed Draft Sligo County Development Plan 2024-2030 was circulated to the elected members on 14 September 2023. At a special meeting on 2 October 2023, the members approved the Draft CDP for publication, without modifications.

The Draft Plan and accompanying documents were published on 13 October 2023. A total of 211 valid submissions were received by the consultation deadline. All submissions were published on the Council’s consultation platform.

Section 12(4) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) requires the Chief Executive of a Planning Authority to prepare a report on submissions received in relation to the Draft Development Plan and submit it to the elected members for their consideration.

Having summarised the issues raised in each submission, the Chief Executive made recommendations on whether to modify the Draft CDP or make no changes.

Deciding whether to propose amendments to the Draft Plan is a function reserved for the elected members of Sligo County Council. Following the receipt of this Chief Executive’s Report on 22 March 2024, the members decided to hold a special meeting on 15 April, which was followed by a second one on 22 April 2024.

During the two meetings, the Chief Executive’s recommendations were presented to the Council and the elected members approved most recommendations for proposed amendments. The members disagreed with the Chief Executive in some instances and decided – by resolution – to propose different amendments.

All the proposed amendments resulting from the agreed Chief Executive’s recommendations and from the resolutions passed during the two recently held meetings are currently being consolidated (listed in the order of the Draft Plan chapter in which they would appear) or mapped, where they relate to zoning of lands.

The proposed amendments need to be screened (by specialist consultants) for potentially negative environmental effects, and a corresponding Addendum to the original Environmental Report must be prepared.

The next step for the County Council is the publication of a notice indicating how long it will take to complete the environmental screening of the Proposed Amendments before they can be placed on public consultation.

Once the environmental assessments are completed, the Proposed Amendments will be published on the Council’s Consultation Portal for a period of four weeks, together with the associated Addendum to the Environmental Report. The public and the relevant government bodies will be invited to make submissions and observations in relation to the Proposed Amendments (but no other elements of the Draft Plan).

The Chief Executive will prepare a final report (‘Third Chief Executive’s Report’), responding to submissions and recommending which Proposed Amendments should be incorporated into the final County Development Plan 2024-2030 and which ones should not be made (e.g. where there would be significant negative impacts on the environment or where such amendments would contravene national and regional planning policy).

It is then a matter for the elected members to consider and it is anticipated they will eventually adopt the new CDP with those amendments on which they agree at the final Special Meeting. If/when this happens the new plan will become operational six weeks after adoption.