Planning

The Irish Landscape Institute’s (ILI) President, Mary Ann Harris formally launched the South East Branch of the ILI on the evening of the 20th June 2012 at the Heritage Council’s Headquarters in Kilkenny. The inaugural branch event included a participative seminar given by Alison Harvey (Heritage Council Planning Officer) entitled – Landscape Character Assessment & the National Landscape Strategy. Alison’s presentation is available to download below.

Download Landscape Character Assesment & the National Landscape Strategy here [pdf 812kb].

Conor Newman was appointed Chairperson of the Heritage Council by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG) in June 2008. He is a graduate of University College, Dublin (UCD), and joined the staff at NUI, Galway in 1996, where he lectures late-prehistoric and early-medieval archaeology. Conor has extensive knowledge of County Meath’s historic landscapes having worked on various archaeological projects in the county since 1982. He was Director of the Discover Programme’s Tara Survey and also director of excavations at Raffin Fort, Co. Meath.

Conor has pursued post-graduate archaeological research in Britain, France and Italy and was three times Visiting Professor of Celtic Archaeology at the University of Toronto. He was editor of the Journal of Irish Archaeology (2000-06) and is currently co-director, with Dr Mark Stansbury (Classics Department, NUI Galway) of a major research project: Columbanus: Life and Legacy, funded under the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI-4).

Download Conor's Presentation: Launch of the Key Findings of the National Evaluation of Village Design Statements (VDSs) in Ireland – The Way Forward? [PDF 668K]

Terry O’Regan founder (1995) and on-going Co-ordinator of Landscape Alliance Ireland is Council of Europe landscape expert and Member of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) Steering Committee. A Graduate in Horticulture (UCD) with some 38 years' experience of the Irish landscape industry, Member of the Irish Landscape Institute and the Institute of Horticulture, he practises as a landscape and environmental consultant.  A life-long member of heritage/environmental NGOs, he convened the National Landscape Forum Series (7 no. to date).

Terry was founding Chairperson of the LA21 Body – the Cork Environmental Forum and the first to call for a strategic national landscape policy in Ireland, championing the case for such a policy over the past 14 years. He has effectively represented Ireland in the development of the European Landscape Convention since 1996. Terry also writes and lectures on all aspects of landscape evolution, quality and management. He contributed to the 2007 KNNV publication ‘Europe’s Living Landscapes – Essays exploring our Identity in the Countryside’; has just published the Landscape Circle Study Guide and the LAI ELC Marking Progress Template. He has also contributed to, and edited the proceedings of, the National Landscape Forum and created the website: www.landscape-forum-ireland.com

Download Terry's presentation: The European Landscape Convention (ELC) - Irish Villages and their Settings [PDF 21.6MB]

Jeff Bishop (along with Ian Davison) of BDOR invented Village Design Statements as part of ‘research’ for the English Countryside Commission on improving the standard of rural design. They tested the approach in practice before drafting the national guidance material (available on the Heritage Council website). To ensure real and lasting success, BDOR led the production of videos and newspaper/journal articles, as well as designing and delivering a national series of VDS training courses. Since then, Jeff has run further VDS training at local and national levels, offered specific support to many VDS groups and local authorities across the UK, run training on VDSs in Italy and promoted the concept in (for example) the USA and Slovenia.

Jeff’s other work with BDOR includes national research (he is described as the ‘architect’ of the pro-involvement changes in the UK planning system), training in the UK and other countries on community engagement and facilitation (currently for all middle managers in the National Environment Agency), and leading edge planning and regeneration projects (for example in Salisbury and Harlow). Jeff is an Adviser to the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission and has been a Master class tutor in community engagement for the OECD.

Download Jeff & Stephen Owen's presentation: Village Design Statements (VDSs) in Ireland – Key Findings of the Heritage Council’s National Evaluation of VDSs in Ireland (Oct 2008) [PDF 30MB]

Professor Stephen Owen has conducted major evaluations of Village Design Statements (VDSs) in England for the English Countryside Agency in 1997 and again in 2001, concluding that VDSs were proving a valuable planning tool for local communities. At their best they were seen to generate a spirit of genuine local community development and to be a worthwhile formal planning tool at both local planning authority and parish council levels. Stephen is a chartered town planner with over forty years’ experience of research and practice in rural settlement planning. He has been Chair of Gloucestershire Rural Community Council and Chair of Gloucestershire Rural Development Commission.

For 11 years Stephen was Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Leisure at the University of Gloucestershire. Stephen’s main areas of research are design in the countryside and reconciling community-led planning initiatives with strategic planning. He has published a number of refereed papers specifically evaluating the role of Village Design Statements (VDSs) in the planning system and has published extensively in the fields of sustainable rural settlement planning and community-led planning.

Download Jeff & Stephen's presentation: Village Design Statements (VDSs) in Ireland – Key Findings of the Heritage Council’s National Evaluation of VDSs in Ireland (Oct 2008) [PDF 30MB]

Alison Harvey is an experienced environmental planner and qualified project manager with a background in economics and community-led regeneration. She has been involved in the formulation and implementation of city, town and village design and development/regeneration studies and strategies throughout Ireland, for almost 13 years. Prior to joining the Heritage Council, Alison was a Senior Consultant with a Dublin-based consultancy. Shortly after joining the Heritage Council in December 2004, Alison initiated and developed the Irish Walled Towns Network (IWTN). This all-island initiative, now with an annual grant of €2m from the DoEHLG, has a strong emphasis on public participation including landowner workshops, participative Steering Groups, Irish Walled Towns’ Day (in conjunction with National Heritage Week), etc. Alison prepared the IWTN’s first 3 Year Action Plan 2006-2008, based on facilitated workshops.

She revised the VDS process in February 2006 and the new participative process was adopted for the Lucan VDS (and all Heritage Council-sponsored VDSs completed since 2006 to date). She was also Chair of the Lucan Village Design Statement Steering Group (IPI Awards 2008 – Participatory Award (Certificate of Merit)) and is Project Manager of the National Evaluation of VDSs Project. She is also involved in her local village improvement group in Ballon (BIG), Co. Carlow.

Download Alison's presentations:
Village Design Statements in Ireland - The Way Forward? [PDF 696K]

Village Design Statements in Ireland – An Opportunity for Collaborative and Participative Planning [PDF 964K]

VDSs – Methods for Effective Public Participation and Capacity Building [PDF 552K] Workshop Notes (Alison Harvey and Congella Maguire)

Congella McGuire is a graduate of Agricultural Science and holds a Masters in Environmental Science. She formally worked for Gorta in Zimbabwe and BirdWatch Ireland on a Corncrakes survey in the Shannon Callows. She gained valuable field experience while working for the National Park and Wildlife Service (DoEHLG) throughout County Clare and particularly in the Burren. She has been employed as Heritage Officer with Clare County Council since 2000 and has seen the job evolve and expand over this time. Congella manages the Clare Heritage Forum and operates under the Clare Heritage and Biodiversity Plan, both of which are now entering there second phase. The Clare Heritage Plan involves a wide range of stakeholders and relays on community participation. The people of Clare are very proud of their Heritage and have fostered and enhanced their local areas and have achieved many local initiatives in Clare.

Congella initiated the Tulla Village Design Statement and the Broadford Village Mapping Projects and wishes to further promote this type of Heritage and local lead initiatives. Another priority under the current Heritage Plan is to establish an effective Local Community Heritage Network to focus collective energies and secure effective two-way communication between the Heritage Office and the wider community.

Download Congella's presentations:
Tulla Village Design Statement (VDS) – ‘Making Local Character Count’ [PDF 26MB] (Congella Maguire and Dick Cronin, Clare County Council)

VDSs – Methods for Effective Public Participation and Capacity Building [PDF 552K] Workshop Notes (Alison Harvey and Congella Maguire)

Emer has over twenty years experience in community development, organisational change and policy development in the community and statutory sectors in Ireland.  She holds an MSc in Education and Training Management and is particularly interested in the use of creative methodologies to deepen trust and social integration in organisations, communities and wider society.

She has been living with her family in Julianstown since 2000. She joined the Julianstown and District Residents Association in 2007 and has been active on the Village Design Statement Sub-group since then. She started the Julianstown Foroige Youth Club in March this year and also plays on the local badminton team. She is committed to making Julianstown a great community to both live and grow up in. She believes passionately in the power of community to harness the deeper collective intelligence and create solutions for the greater good.

Download Emer Dolphin & Fred Logue's presentation: Why our Community wants and needs a Village Design Statement (VDS) - Julianstown and District Residents’ Association [PDF 29MB].

Fred has lived in Julianstown for the last 32 years. He has a PhD in physics and worked for 10 years in the technology sector. He is currently re-qualifying as a lawyer in Dublin. Fred currently lives with his wife, Karen, and three young children in Julianstown.

Fred is the Chairman of Julianstown and District Residents’ Association (JDRA), having become involved three years ago, motivated by the desire to establish a voice for the village community and to make Julianstown a great place to live. Since he became involved, JDRA has increased the range and depth of its activities including participating successfully in the County and National Pride of Place competitions, Tidy Towns, and Meath Leader. He initiated the idea of completing a Village Design Statement for Julianstown and continues to actively drive this project.

Fred has helped raise the profile of Julianstown in the local and national media. He established and continues to maintain the Julianstown.com website. He has actively lobbied national and local politicians to improve the quality of life and environment in the village and its environs.

Download Emer Dolphin & Fred Logue's presentation: Why our Community wants and needs a Village Design Statement (VDS) Julianstown and District Residents’ Association [PDF 29MB]