Chamber response to County Development Plan

July 7, 2023

Dundalk Chamber has made a submission, both orally and written to the draft County Development Plan.

We focused on a number of key areas:

The need to maintain both Dundalk and Drogheda’s position as two of the 10 national growth centres under the National Development Plan,2040
The need for more housing
The need for more sports and community facilities, which we believe have fallen behind
The need for a strategic transportation plan, both rural and urban
The need for a night time manager to be replicated in Dundalk, based on the success of Drogheda pilot
A tourist review of the region with our colleagues in Northern Ireland
Greater number of charging points to enable a switch to electric vehicles
To call on the National Government to extend the Living City Initiative to all Growth Centres as defined by the NDP.

Louth’s pre-eminence in the NDP must be protected now that the NDP is being reviewed. It is critical that the growth of Drogheda and Dundalk is not inhibited by a lack of housing or other basic infrastructure. This would include a more coherent transportation policy together with community facilities. It is the Chamber’s wish to see the region develop as a place to live and work.

In order to live, vibrant communities are a requirement and ( particularly at a time with new resident), those communities must be nurtured supported and maintained. We note the Credit Union movement is committed to this.

We strongly believe that the tourist market in the Gullion, Cooley Mourne region and in particular Carlingford Lough could be developed further, specifically in the Adventure Tourism market. This offering plus the historic Boyne valley could see the region as a place to stay or base a holiday from rather than a day’s destination.

We note the success of the Drogheda night time manager and would see a similar role for a Dundalk person especially given the third level students from DkIT.