BIG READ: Lar Power sets out his stall as the new Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council

Ever paused to reflect on the influence that our local authorities have in our daily lives?

From the roads we tread to the parks where our children play - the web of services provided by our local authority knits together the very fabric of our communities.

At the forefront of this network in Kilkenny stands Lar Power, the incumbent Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council.

Hailing originally from the small village of Adamstown in County Wexford, Lar’s journey into local governance began soon after his graduation from UCD with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1991.

He began his professional journey as a Graduate Engineer at Wexford County Council and since then his trajectory has been marked by a series of significant roles within various local authorities.

Following an industrious 12 year stint, he eventually rose to the position of Director of Services in Waterford City Council in 2003.

In 2014, he further distinguished himself as Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Economic Development and Planning at Waterford City and County Council.

Building on these successes, Lar assumed the mantle of Chief Executive at Leitrim County Council in 2018, serving a commendable five and a half year term before embarking on his current role as the chief steward of Kilkenny’s civic affairs.

In a recent interview with Kilkenny Live, Mr Power delved deep into his vision for the county, highlighting the challenges that lie ahead as well as articulating his aspirations for his tenure as Chief Executive.

Can you explain the role of Kilkenny County Council in your own words?
The main role of Kilkenny County Council is the ‘place making’ of County Kilkenny, making Kilkenny City and county the best place somebody could choose to live, work, invest and visit. Kilkenny County Council carries out this place making role through the economic, social, cultural and physical development of the city and county.

We endeavour to be strategic in doing this and we also endeavour to ‘keep it simple’ in how we go about our work, focusing on delivering outcomes rather than outputs.

Other goals for us include sustaining the jobs we have across the city and county, enabling the creation of additional jobs and all the time building and developing sustainable communities.

Place making has many different attributes and Kilkenny County Council can’t do it alone, so we require the input of everyone across the City and county to assist us in delivering on that place making objective.

I think it is important to note that Kilkenny County Council is not the only agency providing public value across the city and county.

The activities of individuals, the private sector and other agencies are also critical.

As a council we are pro-sustainable and appropriate development, and we continually endeavour to equip communities across the city and county to do things for themselves and we endeavour to support those that do so.

I see Kilkenny City as a vibrant destination of rich mediaeval heritage, creative culture, known for its vibrant arts and design scene, wonderful food, night life, family fun and shopping and I see the towns and villages of the county as sub-destinations.

Tourism and visitors are an important economic driver for Kilkenny, and we continually work to improve the tourism product and offering.

Mindful of our heritage, the objective of the council is to continue to develop the city and county and in doing so we concentrate on enabling Kilkenny to continue to be distinctive.

To that end, I believe presentation, vibrancy and experience is key.

As a council, our revenue expenditure, that is our day to day spend providing services to the people of the county for 2024 is €111m, up €12.4m on 2023.

We also have an ambitious capital programme to develop the city and county, spending in capital works up to an additional €100m per year on development and urban and village renewal.

Housing is an issue, but thankfully we have a good housing pipeline with planning permission for in excess of 3,000 homes granted across the city and county and 800 of which to be delivered over the next couple of years.

Mindful of climate change, we have a robust climate action plan to meet our climate action targets and we will implement that.

What can Kilkenny do to attract more tourism revenue and visitors?
Kilkenny City and county is an amazing destination and the envy of many other locations in Ireland, but to remain there we must continually raise the bar and continue to develop.

Critical to our success also in that regard, I believe is the requirement to exceed the customer expectation of those that choose to visit, that in turn leads to positive experiences, positive word of mouth and return visits.

One area we must also get right in that regard, is what I call the ‘tiny noticeable things’.

Tiny noticeable things are things that cost very little to get right, but if you don’t do them, people notice and they negatively affect the city and county’s reputation and brand.

Examples of tiny noticeable things includes the cleanliness of roads, footpaths, signs, street furniture and buildings.

Kilkenny County Council will endeavour to ensure everything under our control is clean and presentable, but I would also appeal to the business community and the citizens of Kilkenny to ensure their buildings are also clean and well presented.

What is the relationship like between the executive of Kilkenny County Council and the elected representatives?
We can only properly do our job by having a very effective councillor-executive partnership.

I believe we are blessed in Kilkenny that this is currently the case.

The councillors of Kilkenny are very professional in how they go about their job and represent their constituents.

They are always focused on doing the right thing for the city, the county and its people.

They are responsible for what are called the ‘reserved’ functions of council, functions that are reserved solely for them, like the formulation and adoption of policy e.g. the formulation and adoption of the City and County Development Plan (the plan for how the City and County will develop over the period of the plan), the formulation and adoption of the scheme of letting priorities for housing allocations (the scheme of how social housing will be allocated to those that need them), the adoption of the annual budget to run the council and the approval of borrowing of money to develop the city and county, to name just a few.

The team and I are then responsible for doing what are called the ‘executive’ functions, those are the functions of implementing the council’s adopted policies e.g. the granting of planning permissions, the allocations of housing etc.

How do we stop our smaller towns and villages from becoming centres of dereliction?
The functions of our towns and villages here in Kilkenny have changed over the years with the emergence and dominance of the car, the change in convenience shopping, the desire of people in the last number of decades who traditionally lived over their business to live in suburbia, out-of-town shopping and now online shopping.

This has resulted in some vacancy and dereliction in our towns and villages in particular. I believe it is now incumbent on us to restore as far as practicable a function in these towns and villages and tackle this vacancy and dereliction.

In doing so I believe we need to work from the ‘centre out’ in each town and village in tackling the problem as I believe people judge locations on their centre, their presentation and their experience.

How does Kilkenny continue to foster its entrepreneurial spirit and support existing businesses?
Kilkenny City and county has a buzzing entrepreneurial culture and many successful and thriving businesses, these are the lifeblood of our economy.

We have companies such as State Street, Abbott, Glanbia, UPMC, Aztec, Tirlan, Dawn Meats, Connolly’s Redmills, Clune Tech, Taxback, Transfer Mate, Medite Smart Ply, Cartoon Saloon, Vhi, Banking 365, to name a few. But we also have a plethora of very successful smaller companies and sole traders.

Our job is to enable the growth and continued success of all these companies.

With Kilkenny’s location and proximity to Dublin, its quality of life, its business culture and its housing supply I believe Kilkenny is ripe for having additional companies establish in Kilkenny both from the foreign direct investment and indigenous background and I will continue to work in partnership with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to delivering on that objective.

What are some of the big projects in the pipeline for Kilkenny?
To mention just a sample of projects that we are advancing or that have advanced, we have an excellent social and affordable housing pipeline across county Kilkenny delivering on average 176 houses per year.

We have provided the enabling infrastructure in the city to enable 2,800 homes in the Western Environs, two secondary schools and a primary school.

Similarly in Loughmacask, we have the infrastructure for 900 homes and a secondary school.

We are also progressing Active Travel across the city and county with sustainable urban mobility planning in the city and one-way systems in the likes of Callan.

Our investment in tourism includes the continued development of the Mediaeval Mile, the greenway in the south of the county from New Ross to Waterford and our investment in the Discovery Park in Castlecomer.

We have secured large investment in Urban Regeneration Development Funding (URDF) enabling the development of the Abbey Quarter, having just completed the Mayfair Library and about to commence the Urban Street and Park in the area.

In partnership with the National Treasury Management Agency, we have already developed the Brewhouse Building with further Grade A office accommodation to follow.

With URDF funding we will also be progressing further public realm and street renewal in Kilkenny City and access and transport infrastructure in the Ferrybank area.

We have been successful in securing a large sum of Rural Regeneration Development Funding (RRDF) enabling such projects as the public realm in Thomastown, Sessions House and a new library development which is about to commence.

We also have plans for public realm renewal in Piltown with our proposal for the disused garda station to be used as a community centre.

What do you personally want to achieve in your tenure and what legacy do you want to leave here in Kilkenny?
I am very conscious that we, the elected members and staff of Kilkenny County Council are the current custodians of Kilkenny County Council and whatever we may achieve over our tenure, we do so by standing on the shoulders of those that went before us, who did great work.

I believe our goal for our tenure of office is to enable every part of Kilkenny City and county to be developed and reach its full potential.

An overriding objective is to hand over Kilkenny City and county better than we found it.

As the team and I do our job, irrespective of how complex an issue can be that may arise, I personally strip it back and keep it simple, by simply asking what is the right thing to do for Kilkenny City and county.

Each day, I continually endeavour to identify and progress different initiatives that will actually make a difference in ensuring Kilkenny’s growth and ensuring Kilkenny remains the best place one can choose to live, work, invest and visit.

I also see it as my duty to work at a national level to attract as much funding and investment as possible for the betterment of Kilkenny and the role of our elected Oireachtas members is critical in advancing that agenda also.

I am excited about the future of Kilkenny, and I believe as a collective, Kilkenny County Council has the potential to really drive at pace the development of the Kilkenny City and county and in doing so, to take Kilkenny to the next level and increase its reputation and brand.