Population of New Ross set to increase by 3,000 but it continues to trail behind rest of Wexford

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Despite a projected increase in population of almost three thousand in the next eight years, New Ross will soon be the only one of Wexford’s four major towns not to have ‘key town’ status. Increasing housing delivery in New Ross is near the top of Wexford County Council’s (WCC) agenda as it seeks to build over a thousand new units in the town up to 2034, but, as they listened to the plans for the future, local councillors couldn’t help but feel they were, once again, being left behind.

Responding to the rising demand for housing across the county, WCC has reviewed existing land capacity in both New Ross and Enniscorthy and drawn up a proposed variation to the its County Development Plan (CDP). Ultimately WCC’s aim is to rezone additional lands for housing, allowing private developers, housing agencies, and the council’s own housing department to submit planning applications for new builds.

For New Ross this means an additional population target of 2,910 up to 2034, translating to 1,069 new housing units in the town during that time period.

However, with Wexford town and Gorey already classified as key towns by central government, and Enniscorthy soon to be added to the list, there was an inevitable flurry of questions from those representing the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD) as these plans were presented in County Hall.

“Why can’t New Ross be classed as a key town?” asked Councillor John Fleming. “The other three towns are. Integer is the biggest employer in the county and it’s expanding at the moment. We have Waterford city just down the road and we have the largest transport company in Wexford.”

He received support from Cllr Michael Sheehan who also believed New Ross should receive key town status and all the benefits that come with it in terms of national funding and grants.

"It should happen in the life of this plan,” he said. “But it’s one hell of a jump to have New Ross’s population up around 14,000 (by 2040); where are the schools, the doctors, the community centres, the primary care centres, when are they going to be developed?”

Developing the facilities and amenities to go with the new houses was also at the forefront of Cllr Bridín Murphy’s mind.

“A key town has to be more than just a label, there has to be a structure to it, we have to have education, healthcare, community, transport facilities,” she said. “That’s where we have fallen down in the past; we’ve built the houses and the infrastructure has come after. That has to change, the sequencing of it needs to see the infrastructure delivered first so the town can grow in a sustainable way.”

Explaining that key town status was dependent on population and guided by national policy, chief executive Eddie Taaffe said the variation of the CDP would allow New Ross to grow at its own pace and that any increase in population would come with investment in roads, parks, open spaces, and flood attenuation systems.

In addition to rezoning lands for housing, WCC will also look to rezone industrial and business lands, allowing more retailers and businesses to set up in New Ross. And Cllr Sheehan feared this will signal the death knell for many of those currently operating within the town centre.

“We need to be very careful here. As a planning authority we’re going to have to bring in a sweep of measures to protect the existing town centre and commercial core, “ he said. “When this is adopted the New Ross town centre will effectively be from Kent’s Cross to Manning’s Roundabout and this will see massive new retail investment (in that area).

That’s where we have fallen down in the past; we’ve built the houses and the infrastructure has come after

"But you won’t have those new retailers in South Street, so we need to protect the existing town core. Something we adopt here could put a business in the middle of the town at risk.”

On the topic of businesses and how they will be impacted by the proposals, Cllr Fleming pointed to two large warehouses in the retail park which had remained unoccupied for 20 years due to restrictive regulations.

“There are two units within the retail park which aren’t being utilised because they’re currently categorised as being zoned for ‘bulky-goods’,” he said. “It’s hard to bring in a development there, it doesn’t suit the businesses, can we reclassify that so we can progress the area? There’s no reason we should have empty units there.”

“We are going to change the retail park to a district centre so that opens it to a mixture of uses,” replied senior planner Diarmuid Houston. “We have come to that conclusion based on the need to grow economic infrastructure, those units have remained empty for almost 20 years.”

In order to become a key town the population of New Ross needs to surpass 10,000, something which director of planning Liz Hore was confident would happen by 2034.

However, Cllr Sheehan said it would already have acquired this much sought after status were it not for an unseemly land grab from the east in years past.

“It’s not by accident that New Ross is not a key town,” he said. “We conceded developed land in the previous CDP to Wexford so it could meet its housing targets. But New Ross is a key town in all but name and if we do it right we will end up exceeding 10,000 because anyone who is working in Waterford, Wexford or Carlow will see New Ross as the perfect place to buy good, high quality, affordable property”.

As part of its revised housing targets, WCC hopes to deliver approximately 18,000 new units in the county by 2040. Increasing its previous annual target by 551, the council now intends to construct 1622 homes per year up to 2034 and 722 per year from 2035-40.

Later this month the proposed variation to the CDP will be available for the public to view and make submissions on. Thereafter, once WCC has consulted landowners and all stakeholders, a report will be compiled by chief executive Eddie Taaffe and the completed proposal will be brought to the council chamber for further review.