Banbridge / Newry and Mourne Area Plan 2015
Strategic Plan Framework: Settlement Regional Policy Context

The Regional Development Strategy (RDS) sets out a Spatial Development Strategy which provides a framework for the future physical development of the region. It identifies a hierarchy of settlements based on main hubs, local hubs and a strong rural community living either in small towns, villages, small settlements or in the open countryside.

The Strategy states that future levels of growth of each town will vary, depending on a range of factors such as strategic location, the size of its population and its catchment area, the range of employment, infrastructure and services available and the quality of the environment and living conditions.

Banbridge and Newry are identified in the Spatial Development Strategy of the RDS as Main Hubs and both are located within the key Eastern Seaboard transport corridor. The Strategy states that towns identified as main hubs have the potential to develop as 'growth poles' for clustering of economic activity, thereby providing a counter-balance to the metropolitan heart of the Region centred on Belfast. These main towns will, therefore, be developed as the major locations for providing employment, services, and a range of cultural and leisure amenities (C8: SPG-RNI 3). The Strategy places emphasis on the employment and service role of Banbridge, and on the commercial and tourism roles of Newry. They will both have a leading role in accommodating the need for urban housing in each council area.

The RDS promotes the strengthening of the external transport network to enhance the Region's role as a Gateway to Europe. It encourages the improvement of existing air, sea and land connections and the further development of strategic transport linkages from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. The concept of improved transport, communication and energy linkages with the Republic of Ireland is confirmed in its National Spatial Strategy.

The Spatial Development Strategy identifies Warrenpoint as a Local Hub. The RDS also requires that, the planned growth of Dromore, takes account of the town's proximity to the Belfast Metropolitan Area hinterland and the need therefore to accommodate some of that area's housing need.

Villages also have a specific role as identified in the Spatial Development Strategy. They are market centres, providing employment and services. The Strategy refers to the need to sustain and consolidate the role of villages as local rural service centres. It distinguishes between those villages that have experienced excessive levels of growth, disproportionate to their services and infrastructure, and those in decline and in need of revitalisation.

Small settlements provide local housing opportunities for rural dwellers wishing to continue living in the countryside. Consequently, a portion of the regional housing growth indicator (HGI) for each district will be allocated to small settlements and the open countryside.

The Belfast Metropolitan Area travel-to-work hinterland extends into the northern portion of the Banbridge District. The Spatial Development Strategy highlights the need to consolidate villages and small rural settlements within this hinterland and to resist their large-scale expansion.