Parish Plan

1.1 This summary document presents a synopsis of the outcomes of a process that formally began in Crusheen/Ballinruan in 1997. It represents the condensed outcomes from a range of consultations held with a wide variety of individuals and organisations relevant to the process (it is recommended that reference is made to the main report and to the associated maps and documents for a fuller coverage of the process and its outcomes). The resultant plan sets forward a vision for Crusheen/Ballinruan which it is intended will apply for the next five to ten years. It does not however presume to set a final end-state for the area and its development status. This is a matter which will require reviewing on a regular basis by the community and the appropriate organisations involved in the process. The format of the plan enables reviews to take place, priorities to be addressed (and changed where necessary) and ongoing consultations to be facilitated.

1.2 The planning process undertaken as part of the exercise revealed that the parish is experiencing change at a rapid rate and that while a number of residents may not be fully sure as to how such change will affect them in future, almost all wish to be part of a dynamic parish which interacts confidently with this changing environment, thereby influencing and moderating the causal factors associated with current development processes. This is evident in the desire to allocate space for residents of the parish for housing provision including social housing, to improve care for the elderly and for those with special needs, to provide vibrant and environmentally friendly tourist services and enterprises and to fully utilise and give expression to local skills and talents. These objectives are to be achieved through animated community structures working in consort with statutory agencies including Clare County Council and the private sector. This document and the associated main report and maps are intended to assist all stakeholders in achieving these objectives in a co-ordinated, confident and phased manner.

1.3 The document enables the vision for where we want to go as a community to be formulated and expressed in a coherent manner. As such the vision is an ideal that is worked towards through the objectives which have been agreed. The objectives act as markers and enable us to view our progress along the road at various times. The document is intended to help co-ordinate the day to day life of the parish and to help manage the implications of on-going change. The plan is an outcome of a number of initiatives undertaken in the parish from house meetings to detailed survey work and workshop meetings. It reflects the contributions made by all members of the parish to the process and the efforts made by Crusheen/Ballinruan Development Group to promote the principles and practices of sustainable local development.

2.1 A detailed consultative process was engaged in during the process involving a number of discrete stages. The following model is adapted from that produced by Patricia Donnellan (September 2000). Significant responsibility was placed upon the Steering/Development Group throughout the exercise, and considerable time was expended by the group during the consultation, research, mapping, analysis, and drafting stages of the plan.

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3.1 "The people of Crusheen and Ballinruan will:

1. Participate in deciding matters that affect their community.

2. Maintain the openness and welcoming nature of the community.

3. Help and cherish all our neighbours and when necessary, subordinate self-interest for the good of all.

4. Promote family values and community effort.

5. Maintain and strengthen the feelings of safety and security within the community.

6. Foster good inter community linkages at home and abroad and work closely with all relevant agencies and statutory bodies to provide quality services in the parish.

7. Support economic development of a scale and nature appropriate to the scale and character of the area.

8. Promote the development of the villages in accordance with detailed action plans prepared through a process of community participation.

9. Maintain and ensure the continued use of the existing building stock.

10. Maintain the existing balanced pattern of land use in the area.

11. Promote environmental awareness and ensure that all activities within our community will be environmentally friendly.

12. Promote "Green Tourism" in the locality and maintain and develop public access to the countryside.

13. Retain, promote and value our cultural heritage to ensure that it is held in trust for current and future generations."

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. To openly engage the maximum participation of the people of Crusheen and Ballinruan in the formulation of all matters that affect their community, thus facilitating a sense of belonging to the area for all and keeping the best interests of the community paramount.

2. The community will seek to provide a mechanism whereby a safe and secure environment will be created, to minimise feelings of actual or perceived fear, isolation or insecurity.

3. (a) To establish a structure to maximise the use of linkages with community members and other communities, both in Ireland and throughout the world, for the continued development of the parish.

b) To establish a structure which will provide linkages with relevant agencies and statutory bodies to provide quality services in the parish.

(c) To ensure that everybody will have access to refuse collection, mains water and sewerage, public transport, lighting, pedestrian safety and in the end, a burial space in the parish.

4. To help our existing farmers to continue in business by raising awareness of farming issues and improving information access for farmers to aid them to diversify and develop as necessary.

5. To facilitate the development of "GreenTourism" by:-

(a) developing appropriate accommodation and catering facilities;

(b) developing access to local amenities and

(c) combining and developing our resources to build a tourism identity for our parish, developing a marketing strategy based on this identity and implementing it throughout our community.

6. We undertake to carry out an environmental audit of the parish to establish those areas where deficiencies are identified and maintain those areas that are noted to be of high quality.

7. (a) To promote the active participation of the residents of the parish and the Planning Section of the Local Authority in a consultative process on any future housing or other development in the parish and

(b) to encourage, in conjunction with the Local Authority and other relevant agencies, a Rural Housing Refurbishment Scheme, in order to utilise fully the existing building stock in the parish.

8. To encourage the development of cottage industries which would reflect the indigenous skills of the locality. To develop community based light industrial units that would complement the cottage industries and offer retraining opportunities as necessary.

To carry out a cultural audit in the parish to establish the richness of our cultural heritage, with a view to preserving, promoting and developing it for the benefit of present and future generations.

1. Housing: The community believes that children of landowners have a right to build houses on family land where feasible and that this consideration should be taken on board in planning decisions.

2. Industrial Development: The community proposes to designate an area for light industrial use in Crusheen, to promote small to medium scale enterprises and to encourage the provision of opportunities for entrepreneurship.

The community recognises that the production of good quality products of sufficient quantity are essential if farming is to be economically viable. It is proposed that a marketing scheme be developed which would enable produce from the area to become more widely recognised and sought after.

The community proposes the establishment of educational programmes on alternative farm enterprises in the parish. The project will act as part of an enterprise co-operative programme and be supported by an enterprise development officer. The growth in organic farming is seen to present opportunities and development of this sector is further encouraged in the area.

4. Land Use:

The community clearly wants to become not just spectators of change, but effective participators in it so as to try to ensure that any land use changes will enhance the overall parish. The community intends to establish and develop a land bank for the benefit of children from the area who wish to settle in the parish.

5. Tourism

In order to exploit the potential which exists within the area, the community intends to strengthen links with organisations such as Bord Fáilte so that tourism be further developed.

6 . Transport

The community supports the promotion of access to transport for all and seeks to ensure that no member of the community should be excluded from social and economic activities due to lack of transport.

7. Buildings

The community recognises the importance of buildings as cultural and material assets. It encourages the utilisation of disused buildings and recognises the potential for income generation through such ventures.

Environment

The community promotes sustainable environmental management and recognises the interdependent relationship between the parish and its environment. The community recognises the need to further protect and enhance the environment and to ensure that it continues to provide a quality resource for recreational and other social uses.

Leadership Training:

The community recognises the importance of leadership training and views it as an essential component of sustainable programmes.

Safety & Security:

The development of a security programme will further help in the establishment of community structures and lead to greater integration of community members in community based activities

Information:

The community views information dissemination and improved communication structures as essential components of a coherent parish structure. It promotes the use of mechanisms which will lead to a greater promotion of and participation in decision making processes within the parish.

Education:

It is the policy of the community to facilitate life-long learning for every member of the parish. It is recognised that education and training are essential for the development of well rounded individuals within the parish and that education and training courses must be supported through the provision of well equipped facilities with adequate human and material resources.

6.1.1 The projects that have been identified are intended to fulfil two main functions:

1. To help in the improved delivery of a range of services in the area thereby improving the quality of life of residents

2. To facilitate the further integration of all members within the community into the development process

6.1.2. The following tables summarise the proposals from the workshop proceedings which were targeted at addressing the range of issues identified through the survey results. Central to the achievement of the objectives is the establishment of appropriate committees, the provision of training, the securing of funding and the long- term availability of appropriate facilities. The projects identified below are suggested as being appropriate for the parish and like the plan itself, are not intended to be definitive. New projects may be added or existing ones deleted from the list according to the wishes of the community.

The pace of development of a village such as Crusheen is likely to be largely driven by housing development, particularly when account is taken of the restrictions on industrial and commercial development which have been proposed (see main document). Housing development is a relatively free standing form of development from the developer’s point of view in that the availability of adequate social and community services for these developments is not normally a factor which impinges on the decision by a developer as to whether or not a development should be undertaken.

As the development of housing at an appropriate pace is not likely to be achieved through natural or agreed internal mechanisms, external controls must be imposed if the vision of this document is to be achieved.

Control of these drivers may be carried out in a number of ways. The following are suggested as being suitable approaches in this regard-

- Requiring that certain elements of community facilities would be in place before permitting housing development to go ahead

- Limiting the pace of housing development

- Requiring that contributions be paid by developers towards the cost of the provision of some facilities.

In order for these steps to be implemented it will be necessary that detailed policies be devised in the context of an action plan for the area or an area.

A total population size of 1000 has been proposed as a guideline size for the village, say an increase of 850 or approximately 250-300 dwelling units. Assuming that the end state would be reached over a ten year period, then the annual scale of development should not exceed 25 to 30 dwelling units. It must be recognised, of course, that development is unlikely to occur in as co-ordinated and smooth a manner as that. Allowing for distortions therefore, it is proposed that not more than 50 units per year would be built with not more than 80 being built in any two-year period.

6.3.1 The objectives for Crusheen are divided into programmes and projects. Programmes refer to ongoing arrangements for the achievement of specific targets, projects refer to specific developments which it is desired to implement. The programmes and projects identified below are suggested as being appropriate for the village and like the plan itself, are not intended to be definitive. New projects may be added or existing ones deleted from the list according to the wishes of the community.

* All costs are indicative estimates only and should not be taken to represent definitive values

Pace of development is one of the most critical factors for the growth of smaller settlements in particular. All settlements are in flux at all times, either growing or declining and even our greatest cities started off at some stage as small settlements. Historically, however, smaller settlements tended to grow at a relatively small incremental pace which gave an opportunity to the communities to accommodate to the change which was taking place in their area. In recent times however, pressure for development has led to far greater incremental growth. It is part of the vision for the villages of Crusheen and Ballinruan that growth would take place at an appropriate pace.

The pace of residential development is one of the critical factors which shape the ability of the community to respond to change. Given the small scale of development envisaged for Ballinruan, it is considered that this is not a critical factor but that not more than 10 houses should be built in any one year. The pace of development (housing and ancillary) must be such as to permit local services to respond and to ensure that social integration and cohesion is not compromised.

In view of the small scale of development in the village and the vision for its long-term future, it does not seem likely that any significant built facilities will be required or capable of being serviced within the area. The maintenance of the existing facilities will be the principal focus of policy in this area.

The vision for Ballinruan is of an area with a simple architecture which reflects the traditional architecture of the area. In the light of the limited scale of development envisaged for the village, it is not considered that a significant distinction be made between developments in different parts of the village. The principal issue facing the village is the retention of these facilities rather than the development of significant new facilities

Again, given the small scale of development proposed for the village and its location within the countryside, it is not considered that any major open space recreational amenity will be required. However the following would be appropriate responses to the needs within this area

- Ensuring that any housing development within the village has an adequate open space area associated with it.

- Ensuring that existing public areas are treated in a manner which will enhance the character of the village

- Ensuring that all public signage and other street furniture is designed and maintained in a proper manner

 

The objectives for Ballinruan are divided into programmes and projects. Programmes refer to ongoing arrangements for the achievement of specific targets, projects refer to specific developments which it is desired to implement. The programmes and projects identified below are suggested as being appropriate for the village and like the plan itself, are not intended to be definitive. New projects may be added or existing ones deleted from the list according to the wishes of the community.

Table 6.3 Suggested Proposals for Ballinruan Village

* All costs are indicative estimates only and should not be taken to represent definitive values

7.1.1 The implementation of the policies and programmes outlined above will require the co-operation of a wide range of agencies, organisations and individuals.

In ensuring that the programmes which have been included in this document are carried out, the commitment and participation of all relevant agencies and organisations as well as the local community will be required.

7.1.2 The effective participation of agencies and organisations will require the following -

§ Responsible individual(s) in each agency committed to and responsible for the project.

§ A forum in which the agencies and organisations can respond to community needs in an active and responsive manner

§ A commitment by these agencies of resources to these projects.

7.1.3 While it is acknowledged that the community input in this area will be critical, it cannot of or by itself achieve the implementation of the projects or the achievement of the vision outlined in this document.

7.1.4 In order to provide a forum where decisions regarding the development of the parish can take place it is necessary that a stable, regular system be put in place.

7.1.5 In order for a mechanism to be found for the implementation of this plan it is necessary that the various organisations commit to the implementation of the plan.

7.2.1 No project or programme outlined in this plan can be carried out without finance being made available. Finance will be required from a wide range of sources both public and private and the extent of the finance required for different projects will vary widely. It is anticipated that the agencies and organisations will commit such funding through the Community Liaison Forum but finance will be required from other sources also.

Last modified: February 04, 2001