People & Place Visualisation (page 1) + Figures and Tables Exclude the 3rd Largest Town in Co. Kildare
As stated in our observation regarding the County Strategy Map and County Settlement Hierarchy Map in Chapter 2, Celbridge is the 16th most populous town in Ireland (outside of the cities). Celbridge is also the 3rd most populous town in Co. Kildare after Newbridge and Naas.
Where the County Strategy and County Settlement Hierarchy Maps in Chapter 2 downplay Celbridge’s significance, the People & Place map on the first page and all of the figures and tables (Figure 5.5 - Kildare County Commuter Flow Patterns to work, Figure 5.6 - Town level commuter flow to work, Figure 5.7 - Car-based travel to work per settlement, Table 5.3 - Satisfaction levels with commute to work) in Chapter 5 omit Celbridge completely.
Whilst acknowledging that
- The intent was probably to only include the Key Towns and Self-Sustaining Growth Towns to which commuters are increasingly expected to travel due to strategies that would lead to these towns attracting greater inflows of commuters, and
- Celbridge has "a weak employment base”
omission of Celbridge like this disregards the large number who commute from Celbridge and fails to represent the destinations to which they travel.
The use of unsustainable modes of transport is disproportionately high amongst residents of Celbridge when compared with transport mode shares in other parts of the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Due to flows to and from other towns, it is not appropriate for this challenge to be addressed only in the Celbridge Local Area Plan.
If population and housing targets are to remain as outlined in Table 2.8 - Settlement Hierarchy - Population and Housing Unit Targets Q1-2023 to Q2-2028, then commuter flows from Celbridge will become increasingly important with Celbridge remaining the 3rd largest town in Co. Kildare until long after 2028 and continuing to take additional population disproportionately to its designation as a mere Self-Sustaining Town.
As a point of reference, this map of Ireland from the Town Centre First: A Policy Approach for Irish Towns document, shows Celbridge in the top 19 towns in Ireland (outside of the cities) with populations over 20,000.
When the Kildare County Development Plan fails to acknowledge the significance of Celbridge, how might decision makers and bodies with a national remit that rely on County Development Plans for insight be informed of the needs of Celbridge with respect to transport?
To avoid continuation of the established commuting patterns from Celbridge, Chapter 5 needs to include Celbridge in maps, figures and tables relating to Sustainable Mobility and Transport in Co. Kildare.