The County Development Plan must include a core strategy. This is a medium to longer term evidence based strategy for the spatial development of the County. The core strategy must demonstrate that the development plan is consistent with national and regional policy particularly in relation to the hierarchy of settlements and the setting of population targets. It must provide a transparent evidence-based rationale for the amount of land zoned for residential and mixed-use zonings.

This map shows the core strategy map included in the current County Development Plan 2016-2022. With the publication of the National Planning Framework and Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy the core strategy for County Wicklow will have to be reviewed.

In particular, it will be necessary to alter the designation, place in the hierarchy and the development strategy for the previously designated ‘growth towns’ of Bray, Wicklow – Rathnew, Arklow, Greystones-Delgany, Newtownmountkennedy and Blesssington to align with the new designations set out in the RSES. The RSES identifies Bray and Wicklow-Rathnew as key towns for the County; below this the County Development Plan will need to categorise towns into either ‘Self-Sustaining Growth Towns’ or ‘Self Sustaining Towns’ based on assessment criteria set out in the RSES.

The population of County Wicklow increased from 136,640 in 2011 to 142,425 in 2016. The following table shows the change in population between 2011 and 2016 for Wicklow’s towns[1].

The population profile and the population growth strategy adopted in the new plan will have implications for the types of services required now and in the future, for example childcare facilities, schools, health services and housing for the elderly. The Core Strategy will identify population targets for each of the settlements within the County and for the rural area.

The current population growth target or the county as set out in the 2016 County Development Plan is 176,000 in 2028. The NPF has set a revised target of 164,000 in 2031. Accordingly this will require a change in our population growth strategy going forward.

[1] It should be noted that these are the population figures for these towns based on how the CSO defined the town boundary in the 2016 Census. Wicklow County Council’s boundaries for some of these towns differs quite significantly in some cases from the CSO’s.

Source: www.cso.ie