Letterkenny... Towards A City
Letterkenny… Towards A City
A Sinn Féin submission to the review of the Letterkenny and environs development plan 2009- 2013
Facing the Future - 'Letterkenny a City for All'
On behalf of Letterkenny Sinn Féin, I am pleased to commend this submission/ document on the future development of Letterkenny to the people of Letterkenny. Within it, we have attempted to outline key issues and challenges to be addressed if Letterkenny is to reach its full potential as a Gateway within the new Ireland envisioned by the National Development Plan 2007 - 2013.
A child born today in the town of Letterkenny will, as they leave their teens, be living in a city the size of Galway. We need to plan now for this eventuality because to do otherwise will be to repeat the mistakes of the past. Those mistakes have resulted in inadequate infrastructure, poor quality build and uncoordinated development leading to a town which, while satisfying the short term needs of developers, fails to fully meet the needs of the people who live and work here.
To an extent, it is understandable that it has proved extremely difficult to plan satisfactorily for the unprecedented rapid growth that occurred in Letterkenny during the last decade - within a context where projections, no matter how optimistic, were surpassed by reality.
However, we need to learn from this experience and build upon it to ensure that this time around we take Letterkenny forward with a sustainable development model that is both strategic and flexible: strategic in its far-sighted vision, but flexible in responding to the many changes that society will throw up over the next two decades.
It is important that we learn from the piecemeal, unplanned and uncoordinated development, which has occurred within the last decade. We need to replace that flawed approach with an integrated development strategy that puts people at the heart of Letterkenny. To do nothing is not an option.
The change that is coming is unstoppable. The choice is not whether to welcome it, but rather how to manage it effectively so that Letterkenny remains an attractive place to live and work.
LETTERKENNY TOWN COUNCILLOR, GERRY MCMONAGLE
Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT)
At the heart of Letterkenny's future prosperity
We must ensure that Letterkenny is planned as a city which continues to embrace the 21st Century rather than a town looking back to its past. Many of the traditional industries that Letterkenny relied upon are now gone. We must, therefore, be ready for economic development based not on 'who you know' but on 'what you know'.
LYIT must be central to any 'knowledge based' strategy. It has been proven that the substantial investment in LYIT over the last number of years has been returned through its huge impact on the local economy. That level of investment must continue, with a particular focus on Research and Development support to the business community. The IDA's central tenet is 'knowledge is in our nature'. This is our starting point for the establishment of a vision for Letterkenny which builds upon our most important resource, its people.
The components for successful growth are already here: a young, dynamic population; learning institutions; an internal market of almost 6 million people within the island; and an entrepreneurial spirit ably supported by the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce.
TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Transport opportunities into and out of the town have to be improved, both in practical terms (eg. public transport provision), and in infrastructural planning terms (eg. to stem the 'panic planning' which is consumer-led and results in 'crazy-maze' type roads):
· Deliver a motorway link and rail network to the North West
· Urban/Rural public transport initiative which is affordable and accessible
· Regular bus stops, bus bays, wheelchair/pram and disabled low access point to support expansion of public bus service
· Planned and phased road alignment to aid the public bus programme
· Proper and sufficient provision of taxi ranks for the town's approx. 170 taxis
· Mandatory inclusion of cycle lanes on all footpaths and roads
· A new strategically sited ring road that encircles the town, since major housing developments are already being planned for outside the existing planned ring road
· Stronger enforcement to prevent developers encroaching on new Town Plan road lines
· Make all development conditional on infrastructure - not vice versa
· Establish a joint focus group between Town and County Council - funded by central Government - to enhance Letterkenny's Gateway status envisaged under the National Development Plan 2007-2013
· Introduce compulsory professional training on Town Planning for all public representatives
· Demand the Government's detailed transport vision for Letterkenny
WATER AND SEWERAGE
Sufficient water provision and sewerage capacity must be the pre-requisite for future development in Letterkenny - not the other way round. For example, if UNIFI was still in operation, the town's capacity would be on the brink of collapse. Even the enlargement of Listillion, and the coming 'on stream' of further local reservoirs, can only meet today's needs. This potential crisis was evidenced recently by the comments of Senior Engineer, Con McLaughlin, who - after a leak in the town's main trunk sewer - commented that, "maintenance staff worked against the clock to ensure that water started coming back into the system ahead of local reservoirs running empty. It was a very close call." (Donegal News - March 19, 2007):
· Enhance sewerage capacity to deal with future potential town growth
· Conduct a comprehensive survey of all sewerage in the town, to focus both on new developments, and on the separation of storm and foul drains
· A major industrial Town Planning project is required - specifically focused on a large-scale sewage treatment plant
· Greater Government support for the town's future water provision and sewerage capacity needs
· Use the joint Town and County Council NDP focus group (proposed under the Transport and Infrastructure Section) to stimulate greater strategic awareness of future water provision and sewerage capacity needs
· Urgently tackle raw sewage flowing into Swilly through stronger and more consistent enforcement measures
· Improve emergency support services for those affected by water shortage, for instance through stand-by tankers
TOWN CENTRE
The future of the town centre, which is being moved, has to be dealt with - particularly in terms of bridging measures between the old and the new town centre. A focus has to be placed on sustaining the older businesses and local shops, through a series of practical suggestions, which can complement the logical development of the new town centre:
· Address the need to revitalise Lower Main Street
· Start a debate about the future traffic flow through old town centre, with a focus on greater pedestrian footfall
· Consult with the local Chamber of Commerce, Derry City Council, and European experts to examine a new Craft Quarter or Café Quarter around Main Street
· Examine the development of teenage drop-in cafés, such as those in the Basque Country
· Build new, safe pedestrian walkways from Main Street to the new town centre at Paddy Harte Road and Neil T. Blaney Road
· Consult with Garda about rolling out a permanent 'Operation Freeflow' type measure to aid safe vehicular passage around the town
· Ensure traffic lights and pedestrian crossings are commensurate with the above priorities
· Develop bridges to increase pedestrian and vehicular access across the Swilly, for example at Woodlands, Ballyraine, Leck and Rockhill
· Implement an ongoing audit to monitor the extent to which the town is developing disability-friendly access
ENVIRONMENT
The use of the Swilly has to be maximised and the abuse of the Swilly has to be tackled. The former could include practical suggestions to build commercial capacity around the intended boardwalk (for example, the development of permanent service or tourist sector facilities nearby), as well as the need for a weir which could itself open opportunities to promote angling. The latter needs - first and foremost - a zero-tolerance approach to the dumping of raw sewage in the river:
· Make the increased use of eco-friendly measures, such as bio-fuels, a planning condition for new apartment developments
· Roll out a programme of planting broad-leaf trees to maintain hedgerows around the town
· Ensure tracts of green-belt are secured in the long-term through proper planning and strict enforcement
· Oppose high-density developments not conducive to the local built environment
· Examine the extent to which flood defences may be required in the future
· Embrace the Swilly as an environmental treasure, including strategically placed picnic sites and play facilities
· Make 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' a reality in Letterkenny
· Increase staff and resources to develop this environmental agenda as a priority
COMMUNITY SAFETY
How do we plan for the likely increase in hard-drug proliferation and ongoing alcohol abuse, particularly among young people? There is a need for debate about the role and activities of the Garda in dealing effectively with anti-social 'hot-spots' through rapid response tactics, better analysis and increased Community Garda resources. There is also a need locally to press the HSE to provide more addiction/treatment counsellors, as well as securing Government backing for prevention/intervention strategies:
· Encourage a partnership approach between Councillors and Planners in 'planning crime out of existence'
· Within that agenda, ensure residential areas are community-focused, both in design and build
· Increased use of lighting and speed ramps around the town
· Increased resourcing of Community Garda
· Ensure Garda are as strategically focused in tackling anti-social activity, as they are in tackling high-level crime, for example through better analysis techniques
· Adopt a zero-tolerance Garda 'stop and search' policy for known drug-dealers in the town
· Develop restorative justice programmes in partnership with the Garda Intervention Programme
· Support an awareness-raising education campaign to highlight the responsibilities of parents and of vintners in addressing anti-social activity
· Actively evolve the Joint Policing Committee as a forum for developing an accountable target-setting strategy between elected representatives, civic society and local Garda management
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Cognisant of increasing social exclusion around the town, there is a need for the development of a new Community Centre, which would become a progressive and positive focal point in cultural, social and sporting terms - especially for disaffected young people, but also the wider community. That should be complemented with measures to ensure outlying estates do not become ghettoised and isolated:
· Develop satellite community facilities around the town
· Sustain the town's arts development strategy, encompassing community groups in conjunction with the arts centre
· Build on the development of the new regional leisure centre as a first-rate public forum
· Encourage greater inclusion of young people in the life of the town through official street theatre and street art projects
· Develop more funding streams for community development projects in Letterkenny
· Develop a new community 'lifestyle programme' for young people that will focus on healthy eating, pregnancy awareness, drugs and alcohol abuse, adult education, suicide prevention, and anti-social activity
· Increase dedicated community and education facilities for the 'new Irish', including migrant workers and refugees, around the town
· Ensure that both the Town and County Councils, supported by Government, properly resource this strategic approach
TOURISM
Letterkenny has been developing an increasingly national profile as a growing tourist centre, capable of hosting major national conferences and events. In recent years this has included all-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in consecutive years, the AMAI national conference for local government representatives from across the island, Donegal International Rally, to mention but a few. Among the key tourism assets that Letterkenny can boast are the growing numbers of quality hotels, the regionally-acclaimed Grianan Theatre, the imminent construction of a new arts centre, and the regional sports centre. In order to build those assets into long-term benefit for Letterkenny's tourist potential, a range of further strategic measures must be considered:
· Establish a dedicated tourist and marketing initiative for the town
· Develop a flagship tourism project for Letterkenny
· Strategically promote the town as a gateway base for tourists in the North West
· Enhance marketing of Letterkenny as a premier conference location
· Focus on the potential of water-based tourism, particularly the potential of the Port Road area in terms of boating, angling, etc.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Gerry McMonagle, Member of Letterkenny Town Council
Cllr Tony McDaid, Member of Donegal County Council
Cllr Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Member of Donegal County Council
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