Kilkenny community has major concerns about definition as 'rural node'

Concerns over the village status of Kilmanagh generated a raucous debate in County Hall on Monday, and an extraordinary meeting of the elected members is to be organised in a bid to address the issue.

Kilmanagh is one of many rural settlements in Kilkenny defined as a ‘rural node’ as per the Kilkenny City and County Development Plan 2021-2027.

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Councillors Mary Hilda Cavanagh, Tomás Breathnach and Andrew McGuinness put forward a motion this week seeking that the council change the county development plan to restore the status of Kilmanagh to that of a small town/village ‘in line with previous small town/village status’.

Cllr David FitzGerald stated that there are concerns in Kilmanagh ‘that their planning status has been diminished’ and that ‘it is important to put down a marker that Kilmanagh is a village’.

It was also raised that local residents are concerned about the definition in the county development plan in advance of a likely planning application expected for wind turbines in the area.

Director of Services at Kilkenny County Council, Sean McKeown, referring to the motion, stated that ‘it was not the intention to upset anyone’ and added that the local authority ‘will facilitate’ the request.

He outlined that the definition was informed by the Central Statistics Office and that other counties use the same terminology in their development plans, whilst others use terms such as ‘rural clusters’.

McKeown further sought to reassure that Kilmanagh’s access to funding under schemes such as the ‘Town and Village Renewal Scheme’ would not be impacted.

He put forward changing the term ‘rural node’ to ‘small towns and villages without a settlement boundary’ but stated that the proposed change must go through a process involving public consultation and Ministerial consent and may not be resolved until November.

Cllr Mary Hilda Cavanagh stated that ‘a four month wait is unacceptable’ and called for an extraordinary meeting of elected members to be arranged in a bid to expedite the issue.

Cllr Michael Delaney also raised his own concerns that Tullaroan is impacted by the same definition in the current county development plan, and asked for it to be addressed too.

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