County Strategy Map / County Settlement Hierarchy Map
The icons used to represent the Settlement Types on the County Strategy and County Settlement Hierarchy maps misrepresent the large urban nature of Celbridge. The extents of Celbridge town are outlined in red in this excerpt from the County Settlement Hierarchy Map but the size of the orange “splash” icon suggests a much smaller village.
In a national context, Celbridge is the 16th most populous town in Ireland (outside of the cities). Celbridge is the 3rd most populous town in Co. Kildare after Newbridge and Naas yet Kildare County Council’s own maps downplay Celbridge’s significance by showing four smaller towns (Maynooth, Leixlip, Kildare, Athy) with larger “splashes”.
Whilst acknowledging that
- the size of the icons represents the future growth strategy for the town and
- the “high level of population growth and a weak employment base” description for Self-Sustaining Towns is suited to Celbridge
the population growth targets in Table 2.8 - Settlement Hierarchy - Population and Housing Unit Targets Q1-2023 to Q2-2028 coupled with the lack of an ambitious strategy for enhancing the provision of employment opportunities in Celbridge amounts to a continuation of a high level of population growth with a weak employment base. Table 2.8 suggests that Celbridge will remain the 3rd largest town in Co. Kildare until long after 2028.
The targets for 2028 do not reflect a more balanced delivery of housing in Celbridge relative to the towns that are higher on the settlement hierarchy. Celbridge is likely to continue to attract additional population and increased densities in the pursuit of critical mass in the Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP) area so misrepresentation of the size of Celbridge is risky as it is likely to result in a continuation of the established pattern of unsustainable development.
Measures are needed throughout the Draft Kildare County Development Plan 2023-2029 with respect to the downplaying of Celbridge but, with respect to these maps, even if the icon used for each town is colour coded to match other towns of the same Settlement Type, the design of the icons should also reflect the relative size of each town.