7.— Section 10 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(1A) The written statement referred to in subsection (1) shall include a core strategy which shows that the development objectives in the development plan are consistent, as far as practicable, with national and regional development objectives set out in the National Spatial Strategy and regional planning guidelines.

(1B) A planning authority shall prepare a core strategy, other than where subsection (1C) applies, as soon as practicable and in any event not later than a period of one year after the making of regional planning guidelines under Chapter III which affect the area of the development plan, and shall accordingly vary the development plan under section 13 to include the core strategy.

(1C) Where a period of more than 4 years has expired since the making of the development plan when regional planning guidelines under Chapter III which affect the area of the development plan are made, the planning authority shall prepare a core strategy for inclusion in the new development plan under section 11 and 12.

(1D) The written statement referred to in subsection (1) shall also include a separate statement which shows that the development objectives in the development plan are consistent, as far as practicable, with the conservation and protection of the environment.”,

(b) in subsection (2)—

(i) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (c):

“(ca) the encouragement, pursuant to Article 10 of the Habitats Directive, of the management of features of the landscape, such as traditional field boundaries, important for the ecological coherence of the Natura 2000 network and essential for the migration, dispersal and genetic exchange of wild species;

(cb) the promotion of compliance with environmental standards and objectives established—

(i) for bodies of surface water, by the European Communities (Surface Waters) Regulations 2009;

(ii) for groundwater, by the European Communities (Groundwater) Regulations 2010;

which standards and objectives are included in river basin management plans (within the meaning of Regulation 13 of the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003);”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraphs (l) and (m):

“(l) the provision, or facilitation of the provision, of services for the community including, in particular, schools, crèches and other education and childcare facilities;

(m) the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht including the promotion of Irish as the community language, where there is a Gaeltacht area in the area of the development plan;

(n) the promotion of sustainable settlement and transportation strategies in urban and rural areas including the promotion of measures to—

(i) reduce energy demand in response to the likelihood of increases in energy and other costs due to long-term decline in non-renewable resources,

(ii) reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and

(iii) address the necessity of adaptation to climate change;

in particular, having regard to location, layout and design of new development;

(o) the preservation of public rights of way which give access to seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other place of natural beauty or recreational utility, which public rights of way shall be identified both by marking them on at least one of the maps forming part of the development plan and by indicating their location on a list appended to the development plan, and

(p) landscape, in accordance with relevant policies or objectives for the time being of the Government or any Minister of the Government relating to providing a framework for identification, assessment, protection, management and planning of landscapes and developed having regard to the European Landscape Convention done at Florence on 20 October 2000.”,

(c) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(2A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1A), a core strategy shall—

(a) provide relevant information to show that the development plan and the housing strategy are consistent with the National Spatial Strategy and regional planning guidelines,

(b) take account of any policies of the Minister in relation to national and regional population targets,

(c) in respect of the area in the development plan already zoned for residential use or a mixture of residential and other uses, provide details of—

(i) the size of the area in hectares, and

(ii) the proposed number of housing units to be included in the area,

(d) in respect of the area in the development plan proposed to be zoned for residential use or a mixture of residential and other uses, provide details of—

(i) the size of the area in hectares,

(ii) how the zoning proposals accord with national policy that development of land shall take place on a phased basis,

(e) provide relevant information to show that, in setting out objectives regarding retail development contained in the development plan, the planning authority has had regard to any guidelines that relate to retail development issued by the Minister under section 28,

(f) in respect of the area of the development plan of a county council, set out a settlement hierarchy and provide details of—

(i) whether a city or town referred to in the hierarchy is designated as a gateway or hub for the purposes of the National Spatial Strategy,

(ii) other towns referred to in the hierarchy,

(iii) any policies or objectives for the time being of the Government or any Minister of the Government in relation to national and regional population targets that apply to towns and cities referred to in the hierarchy,

(iv) any policies or objectives for the time being of the Government or any Minister of the Government in relation to national and regional population targets that apply to the areas or classes of areas not included in the hierarchy,

(v) projected population growth of cities and towns in the hierarchy,

(vi) aggregate projected population, other than population referred to in subparagraph (v), in—

(I) villages and smaller towns with a population of under 1,500 persons, and

(II) open countryside outside of villages and towns,

(vii) relevant roads that have been classified as national primary or secondary roads under section 10 of the Roads Act 1993 and relevant regional and local roads within the meaning of section 2 of that Act,

(viii) relevant inter-urban and commuter rail routes, and

(ix) where appropriate, rural areas in respect of which planning guidelines relating to sustainable rural housing issued by the Minister under section 28 apply,

(g) in respect of the development plan of a city or a town council, provide details of—

(i) the city or town centre concerned,

(ii) the areas designated for significant development during the period of the development plan, particularly areas for which it is intended to prepare a local area plan,

(iii) the availability of public transport within the catchment of residential or commercial development, and

(iv) retail centres in that city or town centre.

(2B) The information referred to in subparagraphs (vii) to (ix) of paragraph (f) and in paragraph (g) shall also be represented in the core strategy by a diagrammatic map or other such visual representation.

(2C) In subsection (2A)(f) ‘ settlement hierarchy ’ means a rank given by a planning authority to a city or town in the area of its development plan, with a population that exceeded 1,500 persons in the census of population most recently published before the making by the planning authority of the hierarchy, and given on the basis of—

(a) its designation as a gateway city or town or as a hub town, as the case may be, under the National Spatial Strategy,

(b) the assessment by the planning authority of—

(i) the proposed function and role of the city or town, which assessment shall be consistent with any regional planning guidelines in force, and

(ii) the potential for economic and social development of the city or town, which assessment shall be in compliance with policy directives of the Minister issued under section 29, have regard to guidelines issued by the Minister under section 28, or take account of any relevant policies or objectives of the Government, the Minister or any other Minister of the Government, as the case may be.”,

(d) by the insertion of the following new subsection after subsection (5):

“(5A) Where required, a strategic environmental assessment or an appropriate assessment of a draft development plan shall be carried out.”,

and

(e) by the insertion of the following new subsections after subsection (8):

“(9) Nothing in this section shall affect the existence or validity of any public right of way.

(10) No objective included in a development plan under this section shall be construed as affecting the power of a local authority to extinguish a public right of way under section 73 of the Roads Act 1993.”.