A new county development plan which seeks to achieve a balance between the industrial, housing, recreational and tourism needs of Meath for the next five years has been adopted by county councillors by 19 votes to four with four abstentions.
The county council hopes the plan will allow Meath to capitalise on its proximity to Dublin and its location within the fastest-growing region in the State, the mid-east.
Councillors agreed recently to changes in the original draft development plan following a letter from the Department of the Environment expressing concern about a proposed new town at Kilbride, the designation of land for a business park at Clonee and the amount of land zoned for housing in the Dunboyne area.
The Department has issued a letter advising that the council's response had clarified the "substantive issues"' which had been raised over the draft plan.
The development plan designates Navan as a major growth centre, with Trim, Ashbourne, Kells and the Drogheda environs earmarked for development to "promote a strong, vibrant industrial base strategically spread throughout the county".
A 250-acre site near Clonee is zoned as a gateway business campus for Meath in an attempt to attract industry which might otherwise locate in Dublin. Councillors argue that the county urgently needs new industry to increase its rate base to sustain the level of services which will be needed in the future.
More than 2,300 acres have been zoned as residential with the potential to deliver more than 18,000 housing units in the five years of the plan.
However, the council has dropped the previous proposal to develop a new town of up to 5,000 people at Kilbride, close to the Fingal border. This follows the Department's warning that it would be in conflict with the strategic planning guidelines for greater Dublin.
Reopening a rail link between Clonsilla in Dublin and Dunboyne is an objective of the plan, which includes the preservation of the necessary land for this route and the preparation of an integrated plan on future land use east of the rail line.
The plan provides for the development of clusters of houses in rural areas as a means of meeting local housing needs and preventing depopulation, especially in the north of the county. It also introduces the development of a green-belt strategy.