One In Four Offaly People Will Live In Tullamore
Thursday, 29 December 2011
NEARLY a quarter of Offaly's population will be living in Tullamore by 2016 if targets set by planners are reached.
According to the 2011 census, there are 14,409 people residing in the county town, an increase of nearly 1,500 from 2006.
New guidelines which are likely to be enshrined in the Offaly planning laws next year will set Tullamore's population target for 20016 at 20,207, nearly 6,000 higher than current levels.
And just ten years from now, in 2022, the number of people in Tullamore could balloon to 24,575, according to regional planners.
Under the Midland Regional Planning Guidelines adopted last year, the population target for Offaly in 2016 is 82,114.
That figure is going to be included in a new 'core strategy' governing planning in Offaly from next year.
Because Tullamore is still designated as a 'gateway town' under a Government plan for the Midlands drawn up a number of years ago, planners are encouraging the concentration of growth in the town.
This will mean that if the anticipated population increase in the county occurs, attempts will be made to channel it towards Tullamore.
If the population develops as the planners have envisaged, Tullamore's share of the county's total number of people will grow to 28.3 percent by 2022.
The target population for Offaly for that year is 86,771 - 23,000 more people than lived in the county 20 years earlier.
In 2006, the population of Tullamore was nearly 13,000, or just over 18 percent of the county total.
By 2011 the Tullamore share was edging towards 19 percent but the latest proposals will see that figure move to 25 percent by the middle of this decade.
Remarkably, the targets envisage a slight reduction in the number of people living in the rest of Offaly by 2022.
According to the 2011 census, the non-Tullamore population of the county is 61,907. By 2022 it will be 62,196.
The targets are included in a document which Offaly County Council recently made public and which is available for inspection until January 16 next at council offices and public libraries.
The document, 'Variation No 1 to the Offaly County Development Plan 2009-2015' also proposes major cutbacks in the amount of land which will be available for residential development.
Notwithstanding the targets for population growth, Offaly has more than enough zoned land for any new housing.
The planners are now working on the basis that Tullamore will need 3,033 housing units by 2016 and the rest of Offaly will need 1,653.
Formerly it was assumed that the average occupancy of a housing unit would be three persons but planners now work on the assumption that average household size is only 2.4 persons.
It has been calculated that Tullamore will need 129 hectares of housing land by 2016 and the remainder of the county will need 207.
At the moment, there are 382 hectares of land zoned for residential development around the county, somewhat more than the maximum requirement of 336 hectares envisaged in the Midlands Regional Planning Guidelines (MRPGs).
According to the Offaly County Council proposal, a return to Celtic Tiger style levels of building is not expected.
'It is anticipated that there will not be residential development pressures of a scale experienced previously in County Offaly from 2012 to 2016,' the council document says.
In all, 31 'settlements' (towns and villages) in Offaly have been zoned but large tracts of land will be put beyond use.
'The delivery of residential development up to 2015 shall be monitored and managed to ensure compliance with the figure of 336 hectares allocated in the MRPGs,' council planners have declared.
To that end, they have carried out a survey of all the land zoned for residential development in the county and mapped out parcels which will be unavailable for housing.
The planners have decided not to 'dezone' land which has already been zoned. Instead, zoned land will be 'phased', which will effectively mean no residential development can take place on it in the next four years.
'The quantity of land zoned for residential development is in recognition of the reality that, for a multitude of reasons, it will not all be developed during the lifetime of this plan and a considerable amount of it will remain surplus to requirements. The Housing Strategy acknowledges that there are certain settlements where excessive lands are zoned for residential purposes,' the planners say.
''The phasing approach has been applied as the overall quantity of zoned land in County Offaly is far in excess of the quantity required in order to meet the population targets outlined in the MRPGs,' they add.
Speaking at a meeting of Offaly County Council last Monday week, Cllr Danny Owens encouraged members of the public to have a look at the proposed variation.
Submissions must be marked 'Submission - Variation No 1 to Offaly County Development Plan 2009-2015', and sent to Offaly County Council, Planning Section, Aras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, by 4pm on January 16 next.
The proposed variation is on the council website and is also available for inspection at Aras an Chontae, Birr Town Council, Ferbane Area Office, Tullamore Town Council, Edenderry Town Council, and the public libraries at Birr, Banagher, Clara, Daingean, Edenderry, Ferbane, Kilcormac, Portarlington and Tullamore.
Turn to Page 8 for more details of the council's plans.
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