Do we really need 3,700 more houses?

Controversial and hugely ambitious new population targets for the Midlands have been included in newly-adopted planning guidelines for the midlands region.The finalised Midland Regional Planning Guidelines envisage the population of the midlands reaching almost 300,000 by 2016, up a massive 45,000 from the last census in 2006.Within another six years, it’s envisaged the region’s population will have mushroomed by another 20,000 to reach 317,000.According to the population estimates, there’ll be a massive 110,000 people in Westmeath by 2022, up from the 79,000 actually resident here at the time of the 2006 census.In Mullingar, the Midland Regional Authority that by 2016, the population of the town will have leapfrogged to in excess of 27,000 people.By 2022, it’s planned that Mullingar will have grown to a population of just under 33,000. To cater for that increase, it’s predicted that over the next twelve years, some 3,725 new houses on 159 hectares of land will be required - or a total of over 8,500 houses for the entire county, built on 441 hectares of land.The figures are, admittedly, designed to project the upper limit of growth. However, an increase in population requires extra housing - and the plan predicts some 19,000 new homes will be needed in the midlands by 2016. That figure includes those already constructed since 2006.The projections, when included in the draft regional planning guidelines, were met with scarcely concealed bewilderment when revealed at a meeting of Westmeath County Council earlier this year.At their February meeting, MRA director Martin Daly told bemused councillors that the figures “allowed for growth” and that in such trying economic times, it was “difficult to know” how the projections would pan out. Mr. Daly added that the guidelines were of a draft nature.But, despite a number of submissions during the public consultation phase arguing for more moderate and realistic future projections, there has been no changes to the population trends in the final report.The Midland Regional Authority, which drew up the regional planning guidelines, insisted that it was obliged to row in behind Department of Environment population projections.To ensure overall consistency of approach at national level, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government issued guidance in October 2009 which set population targets for 2016 to 2022 for each of the eight regional authorities within the State.For the Midlands as a whole, the report reckons the population in Westmeath, Offaly Laois and Longford will skyrocket by just over 45,000 to hit a whopping combined total of 297,300 by 2016 and as a consequence another 19,015 new homes in total will be needed in the region to cater for the growth.Although the planning guidelines prepared by the Midland Regional Authority (MRA) provide only a framework, county development plans, which include the crucial zoning, must adhere to the overall regional and national frameworks.