The Infrastructure Chapter provided as part of the Draft Plan, with the stated aim to ‘to achieve a sustainable, integrated and low carbon transport system for the county and to protect, improve and extend water services and other enabling infrastructure in line with national, regional and local population and economic growth for the county’, provides a robust and overarching foundation for the development of infrastructure services in County Laois.
10.1 Transportation
The Assembly welcome the inclusion of the transportation section of Chapter 10 of the Draft Plan, which coincides with Chapter 8 Connectivity of the RSES. Policies such as those relating to integrated transport and land use planning, roads infrastructure, car and cycle parking, electric vehicles, pedestrian and cyclists, and public transport are all positive additions to the Plan.
RPO 8.6 identifies that in order to give local expression to the regional level Transport Strategy within the Region, in conjunction with the NTA, Local Transport Plans (LTP) will be prepared for selected settlements in the Region. This includes the settlement of Portlaoise and in this regard policy objective TRANS 5, which reflects this policy, is welcome. The Local Authority may also consider the identification of other settlements within the County, in line with the Settlement Hierarchy, that would benefit from a similar and coordinated approach. This may include Portarlington, for instance, which straddles the administrative boundaries of both County Laois and County Offaly, and is currently subject to a regeneration strategy.
The inclusion of Section 10.1.7.1 relating to Greenways is a positive addition to the Plan. It is considered that this section of the Draft Plan, including policies related to the Barrow Blueway, the Slieve Blooms and South Laois, is in keeping with Section 7.7 of the RSES.
10.2 Water and Waste Water Infrastructure
The inclusion of this section is in keeping with Chapter 10 Infrastructure of the RSES. RPO 4.2 is relevant in this regard, requiring Infrastructure investment and priority alignment with the spatial planning strategy of the RSES whereby all residential and employment developments shall be planned on a phased basis in collaboration with infrastructure providers so as to ensure availability of adequate capacity for services (e.g. water supply, wastewater, transport, broadband) to match projected demand and so that the assimilative capacity of the receiving environment is not exceeded.
Having regard to the aforementioned RPO, the inclusion of policies such as WS 1, WS 4 and WS 15 for instance, which promote co-operation with Irish Water during the lifetime of the Plan in the provision, upgrading or extension of wastewater collection and treatment systems in the County, and, to protect existing water infrastructure, to serve existing and planned future populations and enterprise in accordance with the requirements of the Core Strategy, are welcome inclusions within the Draft Plan.
10.3 Environmental Services
The Regional Assembly note the content of this section of the Draft Plan which details Waste Management (Waste Recovery, and Disposal and Enforcement) and Environmental Protection (Water Quality, Air Pollution and Noise) under the heading of Environmental Services.
10.3.1 Waste Management
The Assembly welcomes that the section of the draft plan dedicated to waste management that is framed by the concept of the Circular Economy. This is in keeping with the RSES including RSO 7 with respect to waste and ensuring greater resource efficiency to realise the benefits of the circular economy, and RPO 10.25 which outlines that development plans shall identify how waste will be reduced, in line with the principles of the circular economy
10.4 Telecommunications
The Regional Assembly welcome the recognition in the Draft Plan that the provision of high-quality telecommunications infrastructure is critical to advance the economic and social development of the County. The specific reference to broadband is in keeping with RPOs 8.25 and 8.26 of the RSES which supports the roll out of the National Broadband Plan.
The incorporation into the Draft Plan of reference to the Laois Digital Strategy and provision of public Wi-Fi zones throughout the County, recognises the role of communication infrastructure and services in attracting inward investment and increasing competitiveness, and are considered to be positive additions to the Draft Plan.
The Draft Plan outlines that the vision of Laois Digital Strategy is twofold and includes meeting the needs and aspirations of the people of County Laois in enabling them to benefit from digital technologies and infrastructures throughout the county, and to enable people to carry out their business in a more resilient manner, across all aspects of life including education, public services and entertainment. In keeping with this, it should be noted that the EMRA is participating in an Interreg Europe Project, Next2Met, that seeks to increase the attractiveness of the Midlands using soft digitalisation measures. The Assembly are currently preparing a funding application to enable the roll out of pilot actions, as part of this EU Project, in consultation with Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath County Councils.