Chapter 7 Community Development

7.0 Introduction
 

Social infrastructure, community facilities and community development are fundamental elements in the creation of sustainable communities and supporting a good quality of life.  

The National Planning Framework (NPF) notes that ‘planning affords an opportunity to facilitate and deliver a more socially inclusive society through better integration and greater accessibility at all stages of the life cycle’. NPO 28 of the NPF requires that we ‘plan for a more diverse and socially inclusive society that targets equality of opportunity and a better quality of life for all citizens, through improved integration and greater accessibility in the delivery of sustainable communities and the provision of associated services’.  

The NPF therefore, recognises the need to provide for a more inclusive society through planning and the development plan. In doing so the NPF endorses and requires us to include policies and objectives to obtain universal accessibility, address the existing barriers to access that can arise within development and provide for community facilities that can be utilised by all members of our community regardless of age, health or other limiting factors that may impede accessibility. The creation of such facilities that are accessible by all will make our communities more welcoming and enable all to participate in a community regardless of any limiting factors. 
The Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) recognises that social infrastructure plays an important role in developing strong and inclusive communities. 

The RSES identifies the following guiding principles with respect to community / social infrastructure: 

• ‘Support the ’10 minute’ settlement concept, whereby a range of community facilities and services are accessible in short walking and cycling timeframes from homes or accessible by high-quality public transport to these services in larger settlements’.
• Facilitate a sufficient supply of good quality sports and recreation facilities, including networks for walking, cycling and other activities and shall maximise the multiple uses of such facilities by encouraging the co-location of services between sports providers, schools, colleges and other community facilities.

The creation of healthy and attractive places requires ongoing improvements to the physical and social infrastructure of settlements. Social infrastructure is identified as an essential element of healthy placemaking. It should be easily accessible by walking, cycling and public transport. Shared use and co-location of facilities is encouraged, in order to align service provision, use land more efficiently and facilitate opportunities for further inclusion and community participation.  

With reference to the National, Regional and County Objectives set out in Chapter 2 of this plan, the enhancement of community infrastructure and facilities will contribute to numerous goals across the three pillars of ‘sustainable healthy communities’, ‘climate action’ and ‘economic opportunity’ by: 

• Supporting the role of town and village centre as the heart of communities, where people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities can avail of services and interact within their communities;
• Preserving and enhancing the quality of the provision of community services and facilities;
• Ensuring that the community is adequately provided t with the community facilities that are at the heart of every functioning community.

Continue reading Chapter 7: Download PDF