Collaborative Planning
At a macro level, Mayo County Council should oversee a collaborative planning context, incorporating the desired climate, environment and local distinctive heritage aspects for the defined geographical areas of continuity and shared community council districts. This can then become the local area context backdrop within which families and business can clearly work towards building or renovating their homes or buildings. Suggested structural plans could also be used as a template for engineers which gives comfort for planning ideas and also ensures a continuity of styles in local built structures.
Minimum BER energy ratings for Public Builds
We are concerned that there are no commitments in the housing policy on BER energy ratings. We would propose that all publicly funded new builds should have at least an A3 energy rating, and that there should be a road map with clear measures on when the council will bring all existing stock up to at least an B3 energy rating.
More Ambitious Housing provision
The Development Plan quotes the figure of 436 needing housing where mortgage or rental is not an option. However, there are currently 1,311 on the housing waiting list. The Plan is woefully under-ambitious in this area. The Mayo Green Party would like to see much stronger targets for assisting those on housing waiting lists. We would also like to see a greater mix in local authority supported housing available, for example, social, affordable and the provision of cost rental housing, providing safe, affordable and sustainable housing, at a cost that is commensurate with people’s earnings over time.
Vulnerable groups
In addition, we would like to see more detail on the provision of community appropriate housing for Travellers, not on the outskirts of towns, but within town environments. Mayo County Council also has an opportunity to take a lead in working with professional NGOs in the county to provide emergency accommodation in the community for survivors of domestic and sexual violence who need to leave their own homes.
Under-estimation of the potential of Mayo
The Development Plan sets out that 40% of the population of Mayo is under 25 years of age. Yet, in its population growth estimates, the Plan almost assumes that a significant number of these under 25s will not live permanently in Mayo. The Plan assumes that Mayo will have a continued net outward movement of young people. Covid-19 has also shown that it is possible to work efficiently and effectively from anywhere. Predictions are that while we may not continue to work solely on line after the pandemic, it is likely that work will not return to the old days of going into the office every day. Most predict a hybrid work balance in the future. Mayo should be taking advantage of this future to attract more people to live and work from Mayo – in fact even incentivise people to move to Mayo, as now vibrant, progressive and high-tech cities such as Tulsa, Oklahoma did successfully in the noughties. This means that the Development Plan must allow for this move of population to the West – not from the West. At the heart of this has to be a more ambitious plan and vision for housing for a population of younger people and families particularly - beyond the current predictions for the coming seven years.as above in comment
1. Yearly Targets
The Plan is by the nature of such plans, vague or even scant on detail. We understand that these large, projective development plans are largely visionary or aspirational in nature. Therefore, we look forward to the implementation plans that will bring the detail of this Plan to life. We would like as a minimum to see a stepped or phased approach to the Development Plan – to see yearly targets and measurable outcomes to realise the plan between 2021 and 2027.
2. Environmental and Climate Change “Tsar”
As a very fundamental step, there needs to be an Environmental and Climate Change Lead or “Tsar” at a senior level within the Council. This role is as important as that of a Director of Services within the structure of the Council. Critically, the role of this Climate Action Director must be to ensure that the Climate and Environmental policy is being enacted within planning decisions and practice and with actual practical powers of levying of penalties or withholding of planning approvals/operations.
3. Real Community Engagement
Mayo County Council should recognise Community Councils as the fundamental building block of local authority administration and local democracy. This means going beyond the PPN model of engagement with voluntary and community groups.
4. Meet Population and Housing Potential
The vision and aims on housing need to be more ambitious, linked to a more expansive over vision for population and inward migration potential in Mayo (following Covid). There should be stronger targets for assisting those on housing waiting lists specifically. We would also like to see a greater mix in local authority supported housing available, for example, social, affordable and the provision of cost rental housing, providing safe, affordable and sustainable housing, at a cost that is commensurate with people’s earnings over time.
5. Smart Housing
More specifically, there are no commitments in the housing policy on BER energy ratings. All publicly funded new builds should have at least an A3 energy rating. There should be a road map with clear measures on when the council will bring all existing stock up to at least an B3 energy rating.
6. Take Charge of E-working and Digital Hubs
Given the impact of Covid-19, the Council must revisit the economic policy significantly to front-end the role and importance of remote working. The council can lead the way here by including remote "working pods' as part of county zoning, developing a standardised template for their design - based on best practice and current WDC initiatives. Our proposal is that the Council establishes a dedicated unit to make Mayo a national leader for e-working and the development of thriving and utilised digital hubs.
7. Reverse the Transport Hierarchy
The current movement and transport hierarchy needs to be reversed, prioritising walking and cycling, public transport and then the private car. There is no need for any more motorway projects in the lifetime of this Development Plan. Roads will continue to be part of a transport infrastructure. However, they should be built to meet capacity only in the future.
8. Use Rail-lines
We welcome the commitment to the Western Rail Corridor within the Plan. However, in the meantime, we support their conversion of other disused rail-line into greenways as per the proposals of the East Mayo Green-way Group - thus ensuring they remain in public ownership unlike what happened the disused Westport-Achill line.
9. Tree Towns
Mayo County Council should include an obligation to plant native trees and edible plants around building developments (housing, municipal, industrial) as a core part of planning regulation to rebuild the county’s very low tree cover and as a fundamental and simple protection against the impacts of climate change.
10. End Barbaric Hedge-cutting
The Plan should commit to ending the practice of destructive hedge cutting and tree cutting along roads. If there is a legitimate safety reason, there should be appropriate trimming. However, there is no need to continue with the current practice which is having a detrimental impact on bio-diversity, bird and animal life.