Sligo County Council · December Ordinary Meeting of Sligo County Council · 5 December 2024

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS: DISCUSSION ON SLIGO COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2024-2030

“Proposed submission by the elected members on the Consultation on Draft Ministerial Direction in the matter of Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). As stated in the special council meeting on the 30th September 2024 the elected members outlined errors in tables 3.2 Core Strategy Table and 5.2 Housing Demand. The errors were proposed to be changed at this meeting, but the members were informed this would not be a minor amendment. These errors do not change the quantum of zoned land proposed by the elected members at this meeting or previous meetings and correcting them alone is minor in nature. Correcting them alone does not result in a major amendment or additional zoning as it just reduces the % of additional provision available. The proposed zoning amendments can be taken on an individual site-by-site basis, as proposed by the members, and the correction of the figures would facilitate the capacity for additional provision for which these zonings provide. Considering these proposed zoning amendments had already undergone public consultation, the consideration of whether to accept or reject them was the question at hand. The intention of the correction is that there is a clear justification for the additional zoning amendments proposed by the elected members as they are accounted for as additional provision. As such the proposed submission, which was reluctantly withdrawn when put forward as an amendment on 30th September 2024, is hereby submitted as support and justification for the proposed zoning amendments as part of the public consultation process. Item 1 It is essential to understand that these are actual errors and are not subjective or open to interpretation. The final Adjusted Total Plan Demand above feeds into Column 3 of Table 3.2 which shows quantum of zoned lands for each settlement. A mistake in Table 5.2 will lead to a mistake in the quantum of housing units required in Table 3.2 to meet demand. These errors are as follows: Row B is a total of actual housing supply for years 2017-22 and an estimated figure for year 2023 & Q1/Q2 2024. These figures are: 940 (Years 2017 – 2022) 157.9 (yearly average for 2023 and Q1/Q2 2024, calculated as 940/6 = 157.9. Therefore 1.5 years is 235) = 1,175 Row C should use the latest Homeless Report figure & 2016 Census Unmet Demand figure. The May 2024 Homeless Report[1] identifies 90 units for Sligo & the Census 2016 Unmet Demand is 9 units. This is a total of 99 units, compared to the now outdated figure of 59 in Table 5.2. The largest mistake occurs at Row E1. The actual 2017-19 housing supply of 418[2] units per the official HNDA Tool[3] is subtracted twice, once at row E1 and again at E4. Finally, row E2 uses a figure of 1315 for Projected Household Demand 2027 to Q2 2030 when the official HNDA Tool figure is 1438. [1] https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/297403/eabd7b85-e9ba-4a31-95d6-415f741cee1e.pdf#page=null [2] Table 7 of the Sligo County Development Plan 2024 – 2030 Housing Strategy, https://consult.sligococo.ie/sites/default/files/Housing%20Strategy%202023%20%28final%29%20-%2024%20August%202023.pdf [3] https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/eaa99-housing-need-and-demand-assessment-hnda/ Overall based on the above, this sums to a cumulative underestimate of demand of 542 units. The adjusted total demand should read as 4,571 as opposed to 4,029 Item 2 As CDP did not commence until the 11th of November 2024 and not July 1st as initially intended, another Quarter's undersupply should be included for July-Sept. The projected supply was 168 (4029/6 years/4 quarters) but the actual supply was only 40 (CSO Q3 figures 2024) leaving an additional undersupply of 128 units. This increases the total demand from 4,571 to 4,699. It is essential that these errors are correct in Table 5.2, and feed into the housing allocation figures in Table 3.2. Item 3 A rise of 1,560 people, on the original targeted population uplift, as outlined by NWRA at a household size of 2.6 persons requires 600 additional housing units, not the 137 units allocated. This leaves a 463-unit shortfall. This increases the total demand from 4,699 to 5,162. These 3 items combined result in a demand for 1,133 units (5,162 – 4,029). At the average of 30 units per hectare (2024-2030 CDP average), these units require 37.76 ha of additional zoned land which provides the justification for the proposed residential zoning amendments by the elected members.”

Proposed by D. Gilroy; seconded by T. Walsh.