Proposed Amendment No. 2 of the Callan Local Area Plan 2009-2020

Extension of LAP boundary by 8 acres at Westcourt for Camphill

The Proposed Amendment to the Callan Local Area Plan is being carried out in accordance with Section 20(3) of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2015.   This Amendment is accompanied by an Appropriate Assessment (AA) Natura Impact Report, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Environmental Report and a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA), each of which has informed the text of the proposed amendment as part of an iterative process. 

Text of the Proposed Amendment

The Proposed Amendment involves the extension of the LAP boundary to include an 8 acre site at Westcourt, Callan as per revised Figure 4.2 Zoning Map for Callan LAP (overleaf).  The land will be zoned ‘Agriculture’.  The ‘Agriculture’ zoning objective to be included in the Plan is as follows:

Objective: To conserve and protect agricultural land from interference from non-agricultural uses.  To prevent development of agricultural land adjacent to development areas which would prejudice the future expansion of the town, except in exceptional circumstances where there are site specific development objectives for the provision of certain types of development.   

Permissible uses: Agriculture, horticulture, public service installations, uses identified in site specific development objectives. 

Open for Consideration:  Public open space, guesthouse, restaurant, nursing home, dwelling houses in certain limited cases, halting site, private open space, other uses not contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area. 

It is proposed to include a site specific objective for this land as follows:

To facilitate the development of a residential complex (10  units approx.) initiated by the Camphill Community with ancillary small scale socio-economic uses related to the activities of the residents of the development, and to provide for a pedestrian link from the lands to the town centre, subject to the following:

• The development must not interfere with the ecological integrity of the adjacent Kings River which forms part of the River Barrow and River Nore SAC, a Natura 2000 site.  Any future development (including pedestrian link) of the lands will be subject to Appropriate Assessment in accordance with Article 6 of the Habitats Directive.
• A site-specific Flood Risk Assessment appropriate to the type and scale of the proposed development and a site specific justification test if required must be submitted at planning application stage in line with the DoEHLG Guidelines “The Planning System and Flood Risk Management”, November 2009.  Residential use is excluded from Flood Zone B. 
• Any developments proposed for the lands at Westcourt must be connected to the foul sewer network for treatment of waste water.  Such developments will only proceed subject to the local treatment plant having capacity to adequately treat the additional load.  It must be shown by proposals that all storm water can be appropriately collected, stored and treated so as not to affect the quality of water bodies.
• The archaeological importance of the site must be safeguarded by protecting  archaeological sites and monuments  (including their setting),  and archaeological objects, including those that are listed in the Record of Monuments and Places, and in the Urban Archaeological Survey of County Kilkenny or newly discovered sub‐surface archaeological remains.  Any proposed development in the vicinity or confines of archaeological monuments will require an archaeological assessment and the preparation of an archaeological impact statement for submission as part of any planning application for development within this area. 
• When innovative layouts and exceptional design for living are achieved, strict adherence to the development management standards for new residential developments as set out in Chapter 12 of the County Development Plan 2014-2020 will not be required, provided the proposed designs can be demonstrated to satisfy the social and physical needs of the occupants.