SRA Regional Action Plan MatchUP Final Version February 2021

Regional Action Plan the Role of Modal Interchange to Foster Low Carbon Urban Mobility

Name of stakeholder

Carlow County Council – Planning Department

Type of stakeholder

Local Authority Person Responsible: Anita Sweeney, Senior Planner

Description

The Southern region comprises of 3 sub regions – Mid-West, South-West and South-East. County Carlow is strategically located in the South-East and comprises a number of towns and villages and has a population of 56,932 in 2016. Carlow town with a population of 24,272 in 2016 has a pivotal inter- regional role with strong interregional links to Midlands and Greater Dublin Area, supported by good access to transport infrastructure. Carlow town is a regional centre for education, healthcare, public services, shopping and arts, culture, leisure and recreation for a wide area extending into Counties Laois, Kildare and Wicklow. Carlow is an attractive destination for Arts, Culture and Heritage located within Ireland’s Ancient East. A review of travel as part of the RSES in Carlow shows that 64.7% of people travel by private car (higher than in the South-East region and state level), 3.4% by public transport and 23% walking/cycling. Carlow County Council is responsible to improve the public realm and attractiveness of the Carlow town centre through development and connectivity of key urban regeneration locations in the town centre with improved accessibility from the historic town centre to the railway station. Seeking investment in sustainable transport solutions, improved walking and cycling connectivity routes throughout the town including provision of a town bus service through their Local Transport Plan are their priorities. Carlow County Council will assist SRA to undertake an evidence-based approach for proof of concept mapping for a “10 Minute Town” concept in Carlow towns whereby community facilities and services are accessible in short walking/cycling timeframes from homes or are accessible by high quality public transport services by connecting people to town centres or larger scaled settlements delivering these services. This will allow SRA to create a new implementation tool resulting inan improvement to the selectedpolicy instrument, the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES). This initiative will consist of a framework and methodology to assist Local Authorities in undertaking a “10 Minute Town” assessment on their key towns incorporating low carbon urban mobility and modal interchange improvements in the selected key towns. Yes. The elected members are providing political support at a local level to Carlow County Council to improve the selected policy instrument by agreeing to assist SRA to undertake a proof of concept mapping for a “10 Minute Town” concept in Carlow town.

Responsibilities / role within the development and implementation of the policy improvement

Does this organisation provide political backing to the implementation of the policy improvement? If yes, how?

Table 1.4: Details of organisation 3 participating in policy improvement design and implementation

Southern Regional Assembly | Regional Action Plan

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