The City and County Development Board.......... South Tipperary CDB

The decisions made in the National Spatial Strategy will have a direct impact on the County Strategy in South Tipperary. South Tipperary has a major strength from a national perspective because of the crisscross of national primary roads and rail lines in the county. These need to be communicated but only in the context of a unified campaign with neighbouring counties.

In developing a County Strategy, cognisance must be taken of regional issues. Given that the South East Region is already perceived to be weak because of a lack of regional cohesion, it is important that regional conflicts are avoided in the County Strategy. But the existing regional structure does need to be enhanced. Consideration should be given to the development of a tripartite inland town strategy based on Carlow, Kilkenny and Clonmel.

Another spatial consideration is the location of Clonmel in South Tipperary. Strategies which link Clonmel with Kilkenny/Carlow or with Waterford City should impact positively on Carrick on Suir and Fethard. A sub-county tripartite strategy is also required for Tipperary Town, Cashel and Cahir, given their proximity to main road and rail crossovers. All three towns are designated heritage towns.

The more rural locations in the County may need special measures. The economic outlook is poor with a predicted continuing decline of 2% annually in the labour force in these areas. There is a need to cross check the emerging County Strategy with the aspirations in the White Paper for Rural Development.

There is a potential conflict between economic and social considerations. The success of the economy is putting considerable pressure to increase the labour force. There are other push factors that impact on individual choices. Financial considerations often force both partners in a family to work outside the home. This is reflected in the increasing participation of women in the labour force, which in turn is creating a demand for alternative affordable child care services. (Many of the extended family/neighbours who previously looked after children are also transferring to the workplace). Many families may well want a choice other than for both partners to work and their children in childcare (including at school). What would be the choice of their children in this instance? Can a County Strategy add value to the social situation of these families and children. Can child care not be provided where parents work? If the family situation becomes dysfunctional, there is a major threat of excessive future demand on psychological services, counseling, etc. There may be a need to utilize the opportunity of the National Children's Strategy to include a theme in the County Strategy that is children/family focused.

There is also a push factor on those children not succeeding in school to enter the work force, mainly to low paying jobs. At a time of plenty, this is an unwise choice. The most common feature in research carried out on those living in poverty and social exclusion is that of early school leaving. But can the County Social Strategy add any value given the absence of a local structure from the Department of Education that can encompass both primary and second level education at a county level. As the Department of Education is organised nationally, perhaps the negotiation on the critical issue of addressing early school leaving has to be addressed by the 34 CDBs working in tandem or alternatively through an intermediary partner such as PLANET or the Association of Community Groups.

The match between available labour and available opportunities could be enhanced with foundation courses such as the 'Traineeship' programme resourced via the National Development Plan.

Co-ordination is the key to cultural services. Two triangular links are evident in terms of cultural service provision - Tipperary Town-Cashel-Cahir and Clonmel-Fethard-Carrick on Suir.

There is a need to promote the region for industry and tourism. There are 400,000 people in the South East, 50% of whom are under 32 and three third level colleges. The region needs an airport. There is also a need to get the region connected into the National backbone for broadband communications.

The Environment needs to feature as a theme in the County Strategy. The impact of economic, social and cultural strategies on the environment must be considered before the strategies are formally endorsed by this Board. Pro-environment solutions to addressing issues also need to be included (eg. production of local foods organically, low energy usage in determining approaches to house design and build, eco-villages in village development schemes, small scale enterprise development, etc)