Proposed Variation to the County Donegal Development Plan 2018-2024 in respect of the TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project, Donegal (Variation No. 1), and Strategic Environmental Assessment

Background to the Proposed Variation

• Donegal County Council has prepared a Proposed Variation to the County Donegal Development Plan, 2018-2024 in respect of the TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project, Donegal
• The TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project, Donegal prioritises 3 Sections of the TEN-T road network in Donegal for improvement namely:
  • Section 1 (N15/N13 Ballybofey/Stranorlar Urban Region).
  • Section 2 (N56/N13 Letterkenny to Manorcunningham)
  • Section 3 (N14 Manorcunningham to Lifford/Strabane/A5 Link).
• The Council previously carried out a route selection process in accordance with TII Guidelines (including extensive assessment of various route options and public consultation) which identified preferred option corridors for the three sections of the project as above and these were subsequently adopted by the Council.
• To advance the project through the statutory approval process the Council must now vary the County Development Plan 2018-2024 to provide the necessary spatial planning and policy framework to facilitate the project. 
• The specific purpose of the Proposed Variation is to:
  • Reserve and protect the project’s preferred route corridors by inserting new mapping and amending associated objectives and policies and removing the corresponding historical route corridors.
  • Provide the necessary strategic support for the project by inserting new text, objectives and policies.
  • Ensure compatibility between the Plan and the project by amending certain existing objectives and policies.

Strategic Environmental Assessment: Screening Consideration Outcome

In accordance with Article 13K(1) of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001 (As Amended) the Authority has considered whether or not the Proposed Variation would be likely to have significant effects on the environment, taking into account the relevant criteria set out in Schedule 2A of said regulations. On foot of this consideration the Authority has now determined that the Proposed Variation would be likely to have significant effects on the environment in accordance with Article 13K(2) of said Regulations. 

Consequently a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the proposed variation is required and an Environmental Report will therefore be prepared in respect of the Proposed Variation. 

In compliance with Article 13K(5) of the aforementioned Regulations, copies of the Determination decision (in the form of a Chief Executive’s Order) are available for public inspection at the offices and libraries of the Council during office hours, subject to Covid-19 protocols. Copies of the associated ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Screening Report of Proposed Variation to the County Donegal Development Plan 2018-2024 in Respect Of The Proposed TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project, Donegal October, 2020’, and a ‘Notice of Determination’ are also available for inspection at the said offices and libraries.

Also in compliance with Article 13K(5), a link to a copy of the said Determination decision (in the form of a Chief Executive’s Order) is provided below. Links are also provided to copies of the‘Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Screening Report of Proposed Variation to the County Donegal Development Plan 2018-2024 in Respect Of The Proposed TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project, Donegal October, 2020’, and a ‘Notice of Determination’.

• Notice of Determination of the Need for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
• Determination that a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is required
• Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Screening Report, October 2020