Policy and Planning Context

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future, underpinned by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is an urgent call for action by all countries in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – while tackling climate change and preserving our oceans and forests.

Today, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) provides support and capacity-building for the SDGs and their related thematic issues, including transport. The Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), ir produced every 4 years.

European Green Deal

Under the 2019 European Green Deal, the European Union (EU) aims to be the first climate neutral continent by 2050. It will result in a cleaner environment with more affordable energy and smarter transport. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels whilst ensuring that economic growth is decoupled from resource use and no person and no place is left behind. The European Commission has produced its ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy’ together with an Action Plan of 82 initiatives. Action 35 aims to increase the modal shares of collective transport, walking and cycling with an increase in the provision of safe cycling infrastructure. Action 37 calls for the delivery of provisions for first/last mile solutions that include multimodal mobility hubs, park-and-ride facilities, and safe infrastructure for walking and cycling.

Ireland's National Planning Framework: National - Regional - Local

Project Ireland 2040

The National Planning Framework

Strategic priorities include enabling people to live closer to where they work, moving away from the current unsustainable trends of increased commuting and regenerate rural Ireland by promoting environmentally sustainable growth patterns.

Key policy objectives include

Regenerate and rejuvenate cities, towns and villages of all types and scale as environmental assets, that can accommodate changing roles and functions
Increased residential population and employment activity and enhanced levels of amenity and design quality, in order to sustainably influence and support their surrounding area.
Addressing the legacy of rapid unplanned growth, by facilitating amenities and services catch-up, jobs and/or improved sustainable transport links to the cities, together with a slower rate of population growth in recently expanded commuter settlements of all sizes
Ensure the integration of safe and convenient alternatives to the car into the design of our communities, by prioritising walking and cycling accessibility to both existing and proposed developments, and integrating physical activity facilities for all ages.
Plan for a more diverse and socially inclusive society that targets equality of opportunity and a better quality of life for all citizens, through improved integration and greater accessibility in the delivery of sustainable communities and the provision of associated services.
Improve air quality and help prevent people being exposed to unacceptable levels of pollution in our urban and rural areas through integrated land use and spatial planning that supports public transport, walking and cycling as more favourable modes of transport to the private car, the promotion of energy efficient buildings and homes, heating systems with zero local emissions, green infrastructure planning and innovative design solutions.
Promote the pro-active management of noise where it is likely to have significant adverse impacts on health and quality of life and support the aims of the Environmental Noise Regulations through national planning guidance and Noise Action Plans.

Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy for the Southern Region

The Southern Regional aims to promote sustainable mobility through, the transforming of the transport system towards sustainable integrated public transport, walking and cycling and electric vehicles. To achieve this the Region aims to meet the following objectives related to cycling:

To provide for the integrated development of sustainable transport infrastructure, including walking, cycling (including emerging e-modes) and public transport to accommodate the necessary switch from the private car, for the travel needs of all individuals in the Region, in line with the stated government transport policy
To develop a comprehensive network of safe cycling routes in the three cities and their metropolitan areas and to provide similar facilities in other towns and villages where appropriate
To ensure that future developments are planned and designed to maximise their accessibility by public transport, walking and cycling.

Kilkenny City and County Development Plan 2021 - 2027

The aim is to integrate land use and transport planning and reduce the overall demand for transport by promoting a more efficient land use pattern where suitable land uses are located closer together. In time this will reduce costs for everyone and improve the quality of life for residents and visitors by allowing a greater number of day to day activities to be completed with a reduced necessity for travel, or travel by alternative modes other than the car.

The Council acknowledges that for a County with a very significant rural based population, some essential travel will continue to be made by cars and goods vehicles and the Plan also facilitates improvement in road infrastructure to cater for these movements.

The Plan provides for the following:

The successful execution of Compact Growth through appropriate densities, the focus development of brownfield and under-utilised sites in our urban areas,
Integrating land use and transportation policy,
The expansion of walking, cycling and public transport networks to encourage a modal shift towards more sustainable transport options,
Other objectives include facilitating the take up of EV cars and vans by provision for charging points in new developments, the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan to facilitate remote working and less travel demand for work journeys and to facilitate the rollout of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles by supporting the development of CNG refuelling infrastructure.

Other Relevant National Policies

Ireland's Sustainable Mobility Policy promotes safe and green, people focused and better integrated mobility. Actions include expanding bike share schemes, delivering additional cycling infrastructure projects and increasing provision of park and ride/share. In regional and rural areas, actions include the development and implementation of an active travel infrastructure programme, urban cycle networks, models for bike share schemes (including the potential for electric bikes) for regional growth centres and key towns. Additional actions include the publication of national and county cycle network plans and the expansions of the greenway network establishing linkages with towns and villages in line with the strategic national cycle network.

The Programme for Government, Our Shared Future commits to achieving a 51% reduction in Ireland’s overall GHG emissions by 2030, on 2018 levels. The actions include reducing demand for travel by car, travel distances, and journey times, increasing travel choices, reducing car dependency, and mitigating traffic congestion, reducing air pollution and promoting cleaner and more active modes of transport, sustaining economic and social activity at street level creating vibrant communities and increasing access to shops, employment, transport services, and local amenities by sustainable modes.

Specific measures include:

• 500,000 extra walking, cycling and public transport journeys per day by 2030 (€360 million granted to support the delivery of improved walking and cycling infrastructure )

• Increasing the proportion of kilometres driven by passenger electric cars (under review), replacements for bus and customer rail to be low or zero carbon by 2030 and increased rollout of rural public transport through Connecting Ireland.

Healthy Ireland is the national framework for action to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone living in Ireland.

Keeping Active is one of the priority focus areas for Healthy Ireland for 2021–2023 and includes encouraging workplaces to facilitate workers who cycle and run to work, ramping up the Cycle Right Programme to ensure that all children are offered cycling training in primary school, widening the eligibility of the Bike to Work scheme to provide an increased proportionate allowance for e-bikes and cargo bikes, promoting the take up of walking and cycling in urban areas and investing in strategies for the development at local level of walking, swimming, cycling and running, in partnership with Sport Ireland.

This policy recognises the reliance on private vehicle movement resulting in noise, emissions and congestion that does not encourage town centre living. The European approach to urban development of “integrated place-based approach” is mirrored. There is clear scope to promote greater walking and cycling through appropriately designed infrastructure and the reallocation of space for this purpose the implementation of a mobility and place based transport model to provide meaningful alternatives to the private car.

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