Re: Re: well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?
Here’s a bit on the LImerick PLUTS (Planning Land Use and Transportation Strategy) – from the Limerick Leader 22/12/01
Expansion in city and towns strong
By DEARBHLA LOOBY
SMALLER family sizes in the mid-west region mean that the number of households will grow by about 50 per cent by 2026.
This is one of the forecasts in the Limerick Planning, Land Use and Transportation Study presented to Limerick City Council by Malcolm Buchanan of Colin Buchanan and Partners, consultants at this week’s meeting.
The report covers the city and a radius of abut 25 miles, including Newcastle West, Kilmallock, Foynes, Nenagh and Ennis.
The study deals with the period from 1996 to 2026, and predicts also that the total population in the area will grow by between 47,000 and 58,000, to approximately 260,000 in the next 20 years.
The present populations (incuding suburbs) of the larger centres are: Limerick 83,000; Ennis 18,000; Shannon 8,000; Nenagh 6,000; Newcastle West 4,000. These are all growing strongly, but some smaller villages are still declining.
The report also estimates that the labour force will grow by 42 to 48 per cent.
It pointed out that there are currently nearly 1,400 hectares of land zoned for residential development in the region.
“This could accommodate over 30,000 new homes, which means that 90 per cent of the estimated increase in housing demand could be accommodated on existing residentially zoned land,” Mr Buchanan said.
He said it was the consultants view that this land should be used for residential development. “It should as far as possible be focused within transport corridors. Good residential layouts with access for through bus services which can link the new settlements to shops, workplaces, schools, etc are in our view more important than exceptionally high densities in making the new developments sustainable.”
The study found that the road network in the region has many weaknesses.
“There are significant delays through town centres, especially Limerick. Roads are of poor quality, particularly away from the primary route network, and poor connections to some areas such as Foynes. There is poor maintenance of the roads and high accident rate. Many of these problems will tend to get worse as traffic increases,” Mr Buchanan said.
He pointed out that a programme of road scheme for the area has already been assembled by the NRA, the three county councils, Limerick Corporation and their consultants.
“This study, PLUTS, has therefore concentrated on looking beyond the construction of these committed and planned schemes, and has identified nearly 30 links in the road network where more capacity is needed by 2026. Within Limerick itself, further road widening or construction has to be considered in the light of the needs of the environment, pedestrians, cyclists, busses and freight deliveries. The opportunity exists to exploit the capacity released on the city centre network as a result of the Southern Ring Road and fourth river crossing,” he commented.
He expressed concern that this released capacity could easily be eroded by the proposed crossing tolls, which could divert traffic back into the city centre. “We suggest that a city centre traffic management scheme could prevent this from occurring and also prevent toll revenue being eroded.”
City manager Brendan Keating said a final presentation on the consultation findings in the study would be made in February.
“The findings to date stem from detailed study and a consultation process. The study has been on display for some time and has attracted considerable interest. Views expressed by a number of people have been incorporated in the report,” he said.
Knew I saw it mentioned somewhere before – got a 3/4 page mention in the current city development plan – google searches yielded various bits of it. Here’s a link to one part –
