A proposal to divide the south-east into separate "functional areas" in a planning blueprint to be completed shortly is being strongly resisted in the region.
The National Spatial Strategy, due to be finalised before the end of the year, proposes to include Kilkenny and Carlow in a "south midlands" area for the purposes of long-term economic planning and development.
In a submission to the Department of the Environment and Local Government, approved by councillors on Monday, Tipperary South County Council has expressed "major concerns" about the proposal, claiming it will undermine the capacity of the south-east to develop as a region. The concerns are shared by a number of other bodies, according to the director of the South-East Regional Authority, Mr Tom Byrne.
"The feeling is that the last thing the country needs is another set of regions," he says. "There is a very strong view that the integrity of the existing region be preserved at all costs."
Representatives of the Department's spatial planning unit, in briefings given to local authority members, have stressed that the functional areas are not an attempt to interfere with current institutions or administrative areas.
They are simply a way of linking areas with the "critical mass" of population to sustain entrepreneurship and innovation. The overall aim of the strategy is to set out a broad planning framework for the location of development over the next 20 years.
In its submission to the Department, however, Tipperary South council argues that the exclusion of Kilkenny and Carlow would undermine the critical-mass objective.
In general, the functional areas in the proposed strategy - published in a consultation document in September - are very small, the council says. "In many ways they place an emphasis on segregation rather than linkage. For example, there does not seem to be any logic in dividing the midlands in two. The functional areas tend to detract from Clonmel's relationship to Cork, Limerick and Kilkenny. The emphasis should be on linkages, communication and connectivity."
The guiding principles behind the strategy, the council says, are consistent with its own policies and objectives.
"The one exception relates to the principle on consolidating and enhancing the international competitiveness of Dublin and the other main cities.
"The council does not disagree with the principle but recommends that it be rephrased to include other regions (rather than the other main cities). South Tipperary is already making a contribution to Ireland's international competitiveness and wishes to continue to do so."
The major outcome that Tipperary South requires from the strategy is that Clonmel would service its 80,000-plus catchment as a development hub and influence positive development in Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel and Cahir. A second outcome sought is that west Tipperary would retain its population and Tipperary town become a more effective service and industry area.
