Appendix 1: Implementation and Monitoring

Plan Implementation

Section 15 (1) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) places a statutory obligation on the Planning Authority to take such steps within its powers as may be necessary to secure the objectives of the Plan. This Plan sets out Galway City Council’s strategic vision and strategy for sustainable growth over the plan period of 2023-2029 and into the longer term. The Plan policies and objectives aim to be achievable during the lifetime of this plan. However, many are set within a longer timeframe beyond 2029. This reflects the wider national/regional planning frameworks and recognises that the ambitions for city growth require a strategic focus beyond the plan period.

The implementation of the Plan will require collaboration and engagement with a range of stakeholders, sectoral and investment interests, government departments and agencies.  In certain cases, implementation will not be the sole responsibility of the City Council and may be the responsibility of external agencies. In all cases, a partnership approach will be adopted to support implementation.

Through active land management, the Council will work with developers, utilities and service providers, land owners, national government and community interests to deliver specific development objectives for particular areas throughout the City.

Plan Monitoring

A strategic approach to monitoring will be taken with a focus on the anticipated or proposed key outcomes of the plan, as determined by Galway City Council.

Monitoring plays a crucial role in understanding how effective the Development Plan objectives are in securing the delivery of sustainable development. The Council will maintain a continuous emphasis on the implementation of policies and objectives of the Plan. A methodology that affords measurable monitoring and analysis and an allied reporting structure will allow for a review of the effectiveness of the plan over the period of six years. 

This approach expands on the statutory requirement for a two year progress report. It reflects that Development Plans require that the myriad of functions within local authorities, relating to areas such as housing, amenities, transport, infrastructure servicing and economic development contribute to delivering the overall vision for the City. It allows for a mechanism to facilitate efficient co-ordination and a proactive land management approach. It can facilitate direct engagement and collaboration with other key stakeholders, including the community and investment interests. It can assist in unlocking barriers, enable innovative problem solving and facilitate timely decision making.

Core Strategy Monitoring

A Core Strategy Monitoring Framework will be activated to measure planning outcomes and evaluate the policy objectives of the City Development Plan. Trends in residential development will be presented spatially in order to facilitate an assessment of delivery of the Core Strategy.  The measurement of housing growth will be a key performance indicator to assess the satisfactory implementation of the Core Strategy and NPF compact growth objectives.

Use of the national HNDA tool can allow housing delivery to be monitored at local level and can therefore contribute to timely adaptation of housing policies and also give a measure of how effective prevailing policies are in the delivery of the NPF targeted populations.

Environmental Monitoring

Monitoring of the significant environmental effects of the implementation of the Plan will be carried out on an ongoing basis through an environmental monitoring programme and assessment of planning applications. An important function of monitoring is to ensure that the environment is not adversely affected by the implementation of specific objectives of the Development Plan and to examine whether or not the Plan is achieving its environmental protection objectives and targets. Strategic environmental objectives SEO and targets are linked to indicators, which measure changes in environmental quality and which facilitate the monitoring of the progress reached in achieving Plan objectives and targets. Indicators identified are indicative and may change over the period of the Plan, taking into consideration factors such as changes to monitoring programmes over time and the monitoring arrangements of other stakeholders.

Other Monitoring

Sectoral targets associated with the National Climate Action Plan 2021 will be reflected at local level in the Local Climate Action Plan, Energy Masterplan and outputs of the Decarbonisation Zone pilot project will enable establishment of a baseline of carbon emissions in the city and a measure of impacts of initiatives. The implementation of the Galway Transport Strategy (GTS) will enable monitoring of modal shift to more sustainable modes as additional facilitating infrastructure is rolled out and initiatives to promote behavioural change and demand management are activated.

Two Year Progress Report

In accordance with Section 15 (2) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), the Plan will be reviewed after two years and a progress report will be prepared by the Chief Executive on the achievements in securing the policy and objectives of the Plan at that time. The two year review shall monitor and assess the overall implementation of policy and objectives including those pertaining to the Core Strategy and the environmental objectives as set out in the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to ensure that the development of Galway City is aligned with the national and regional frameworks. The two year report must also include a review of the progress achieved in implementing the Housing Strategy and, where the report indicates that new or revised housing needs have been identified, the Chief Executive may recommend that the Housing Strategy be adjusted and that the Development Plan be varied accordingly.

There is also a requirement under Section 25A of the Planning and Development Act for each local authority within the regional assembly area, to prepare and submit a report to the regional assembly every two years, setting out progress made in supporting objectives, relevant the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. This current statutory process builds in monitoring progress in relation to the implementation of those objectives in the Development Plan that are consistent with the RSES. This will ensure that any changes that are required to reflect and maintain appropriate planning and sustainable principles over the lifetime of both, the Development Plan and the RSES will be implemented.

As recommended in the Retail Planning Guidelines (2012) the Council will include for the monitoring of retail trends including for scale, nature and spatial distribution in the context of the overall retail strategy, the settlement strategy and policies on sustainable neighbourhoods. This monitoring will allow for a review of policy if needed to ensure sustained vibrancy, vitality and viability in the sector.

Development Management Process

Many of the objectives of the Plan will be achieved through implementation and activation of grants of planning permissions. Individual planning applications will be assessed having regard to the policies and objectives of the plan. The requirement to prepare masterplans and spatial frameworks as part of planning applications will ensure that the qualitative aspects of the Plan and the principles of sustainable urban design and place-making are supported. The Planning Section will proactively engage with all the applicants through the pre-application process in order to guide proposed developments to deliver the objectives of the Plan.

Funding Opportunities

The Council will pursue a range of funding sources, by way of development contributions and other Council income, along with Exchequer and EU funding to support the implementation of the Plan.

Funding opportunities to deliver facilities and infrastructure through national streams such as the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) and NTA funding for implementation of measures set out in the GTS will facilitate implementation of key transport and public realm projects for the City.