Kildare County Development Board

Bord Forbartha Chontae Chill Dara

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Kildare 2012 - An Economic, Social and Cultural Strategy

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A Vision for Housing and Physical Infrastructure in 2012

By 2012, physical infrastructure in Kildare will be planned and provided in a sustainable, integrated way and will cater for the housing, social, recreational and economic needs of all citizens.

Physical Infrastructure

The dramatic changes in the population of the county over the past decade have had dramatic effects on our housing and physical infrastructure. The increased population and the economic and social requirements of residents have put immense pressure on water, sewage and power supply systems designed to cater for a slower rate of growth level.

Because of the pace of change and development, certain imbalances in development have occurred in the county leaving gaps and bottlenecks in some areas. For instance, the northeastern part of the county is often seen as over-developed while parts of the west and south remain underdeveloped and the provision of social infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth in housing in many areas. Over the period of this strategy new ways of providing for physical infrastructure will be devised so as to rectify these gaps.

In rebalancing development within the county, forward planning of infrastructure that takes the spatial, social, economic and cultural needs of areas into account is essential. The drawing up of "Framework Plans" for urban and rural areas, so that they can be developed as hubs of growth for the county as set out in the SPGs and so that adequate resources will be secured for future development, point to a new and integrated approach to planning for future infrastructural needs. In this way growth is planned and can take account of issues around environment, economy and equitable growth and the full range of needs can be catered for.

Economic Infrastructure

The economic success of the county, particularly over the past 10 years, is due to a number of factors. These factors include; Kildare’s location close to Dublin; a skilled workforce and perhaps most importantly; an infrastructure that could cater for expanding business needs. Given the level of growth experienced in recent years, demands on our infrastructure and its capacity to cater for business have implications for our future economic growth. We need to develop an infrastructure which is compatible with the type of business that we attract to Kildare.

Housing Needs

While nationally housing has become a major issue, for a county such as Kildare, which is experiencing vast and rapid change, the issue of housing is a priority. The number of houses built between 1995 and 1999 increased by 48%, down from an increase of 155% between 1991 and 1996.

The pace of growth means that groups with special needs and requirements may tend to be overlooked in the design of developments. For instance, it is estimated that 10% of any population has disabilities and require accessible homes and buildings, 10.7% of the population in 1996 were one-parent families perhaps requiring different type of housing than traditional family structures, older people have specific housing needs as do members of the Travelling Community.

Increasing house prices and demand have created problems for growing numbers of people who are experiencing difficulties in finding homes that they can afford. The search for affordable housing has forced people to move further away from centres of employment and onto the Local Authority Housing List, placing additional demands on limited resources.

The County Housing Strategy 2000-2006, which sets out policy for residential development, takes the various issues of affordability and social housing into account and plans for the construction of private, public and voluntary housing units to cater for demand. Current thinking also favours social mixing of housing developments where people of different age groups, backgrounds and family make-up live side-by-side allowing for greater social inclusion.

Social Infrastructure

The rate and spread of housing development has changed our urban and rural environments and has had a huge impact on local communities in Kildare. The rate of change means that communities have had to adapt quickly without the luxury of engaging in the slow process of familiarisation and integration of new and old residents.

Social and recreational infrastructure, which provides space for interaction between members of the community, remains inadequate in some areas and has not kept pace with housing provision. In other areas existing facilities are often underutilised or of poor quality. Specific needs identified through consultation are facilities that are accessible young people, public open space and parks and community meeting spaces.

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