County Council opens consultation on area plans for Donegal’s six strategic towns

Donegal County Council has published new draft Area Plans for six key towns - An Clochán Liath (Dungloe), Ballyshannon, Bridgend, Carndonagh, Donegal Town and Killybegs - as part of a proposed variation to the County Donegal Development Plan 2024-30.
The plans, now open for public consultation until 13 February will replace the Seven Strategic Towns Local Area Plan 2018-24, which expires later this year.
The variation also includes zoning updates across the county to align with national housing growth guidelines. Among the proposed changes are residential rezoning adjustments at Cockhill in Buncrana and Mullindrait Stranorlar, updates to settlement maps following Residential Zoned Land Tax submissions, and the replacement of 'proposed Natural Heritage Area' labels in Letterkenny with a new 'Local Environment' zoning.

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The draft is accompanied by a Natura Impact Report, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Flood Risk Assessment and Local Transport Plans for each town.
Documents are available on the consult.donegal.ie website, council offices and local libraries. A series of drop-in information events will be held in each town later this month where staff from the local authority will be available to discuss with the public each and every aspect of the plan.
On Tuesday 27 January, Bridgend National School and the Public Services Centre in Donegal Town will host their information evening from 4-8pm. Ballyshannon Library and the Public Services Centre in An Clochán Liath have their turn on Wednesday 28th, and on Thursday 29th in Killybegs' Bayview Hotel and the Public Services Centre in Carndonagh.
Submissions to the local authority can be made online, by email or by post, with all received comments to be published (with redactions where necessary) in due course.