Portlaoise land rezoning requests by housing developers fall on barren ground
Laois County Council will not rezone lands in new Portlaoise Local Area Plan
Housing land in Portlaoise is being “used up” fast as the town grows, but a batch of submissions to rezone some 175 acres in the town’s upcoming Local Area Plan cannot be considered.
Ten zoning submissions were made for over 175 acres of Portlaoise land, during the recent public consultation period of the Draft Portlaoise Local Area Plan for 2024 to 2030. Most related to housing, the rest to enterprise and industry.
None can be considered until the Laois County Development Plan is reviewed in 2025.
Amongst them are four by Graham Developers for nearly 80 acres of land they own around the town, on the Mountrath road near the motorway, and on the Borris road next to the secondary schools.
Another from Bircrest / Hollybrook Homes is for 51 acres at Aghnaharna, another is from Kellyville Ltd for 18 acres on the Mountrath road.
Laois County Council says while more zoning will be needed given the town’s rapid growth, it is not the right time.
The Director of Services for planning is Angela McEvoy.
She explained why at a special meeting with councillors to review submissions to the draft Portlaoise Local Area Plan for 2024 to 2030. It will replace the plan for 2021 to 2027.
“Since we adopted this plan, 550 [residential] units were constructed in Portlaoise. We know we’re using up land in Portlaoise and will have to look at rezoning.
“In the LAP, we indicate units being built but obviously times have moved on and we are seeing more activity. There will be extra population in the county, but that’s a discussion for another day.”
Ms McEvoy says that next year, the county development plan is going to be altered, to take into account the growth in population in the 2022 census. It must also change to be in line with the new National Planning Framework being drawn up.
The council has already hired consultants to review and update its housing needs for this alteration.
“We will be looking at lands in all of the towns and villages, to see where they are being used up or not used, where there are services, what the capacity is,” she said.
In all, 37 submissions were sent to the council about the plan.
The council stated in its replies to the rezoning requests that the county plan included a population projection and housing allocation of 64.2 hectares of land zoned for residential uses for Portlaoise.
“Based on available data, the lands zoned to accommodate residential development in Portlaoise are sufficient to meet the population target for the town” Laois County Council told all who submitted zoning changes.
The new Portlaoise LAP is expected to be in place by November, after a final public consultation period.