3.1 Introduction & Context

3.1. Introduction & Context

Listowel is the capital of North Kerry and is the third largest urban centre in County Kerry. Designated as a Regional town, Listowel is a heritage and historic town and a busy retail centre for North Kerry and West Limerick. It has attractive amenity areas within the town including Childers Park and Woodlands and the River Feale walk parallel to the town centre which forms part of the Lower Shannon SAC.  

Listowel is a significant economic district, not only serving a large agricultural community, but is also home to a range of foreign-owned and indigenous manufacturing and service companies. In addition, co-working facilities located in the town also provide an opportunity for people to relocate back to Listowel and the wider North Kerry area. Recent investments include the Listowel Bypass, Listowel Food Hub, public realm improvements and the North Kerry Greenway. The strengthening of Listowel’s urban fabric, the future economic development of the town, improvements in local infrastructure and communications are key priorities for the Council.  Listowel’s many strengths include its proximity to the Port of Foynes (32 km) and to the Ballylongford and Tarbert Industrial Land banks (12 km). This plan aims to optimise spatial development which is essential for future infrastructural investment.

The opening of the North Kerry Greenway in Spring 2022, the proximity of Listowel to the Wild Atlantic Way and its status as the ‘Literary Capital of Ireland’, highlights the potential for transformational growth in sustainable tourism development. This plan promotes the positioning of Listowel as the key tourism driver for North Kerry in the context of the North Kerry Greenway and the Cliff Coast Development Plan.

As a designated heritage town, Listowel’s unique architecture and streetscapes, coupled with a strong sense of identity and with continued local community participation, Listowel offers a unique place to invest, work and live.  

3.1.1 Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES), North Kerry Network

Kerry County Council recognises and supports the economic role Listowel plays as an economic driver in the North Kerry/West Limerick/Clare network.

3.1.2 County Development Plan

This plan forms part of the main County Plan and hence all policies and objectives relating to each chapter in Volume 1 shall apply to Listowel. Further information is contained within each relevant chapter. The land use zoning map relates to the boundary of the former Town Council. The Listowel Environs are contained in the Listowel Municipal District Plan 2020-2026.

3.1.3 Vision & Strategy

The vision for Listowel is to re-establish the Town as a ‘Greenway Hub’ and key tourism driver for North Kerry as a vibrant regional focal point for North Kerry and to sustainably transition the town as a year-round hub for tourism, outdoor activities, arts and culture, heritage and food, in order to stimulate its growth in population and services.

To allow Listowel to develop in an orderly manner, it is important to:

• Position Listowel as a hub for activity tourism in North Kerry
• Accommodate Enterprise Incubation, Expansion and Remote Working in Listowel.
• Promote Listowel as a regional town with every effort made to achieve its population target as per the Core Strategy.
• Ensure that Listowel’s status as a service town for the Shannon Estuary and Tarbert/Ballylongford landbank is maximised. 
• Sustainably support and strengthen Listowel’s enterprise and employment opportunities, including both the Food Hub and Digital Hub
• Develop a vibrant town through the provision of an appropriate and sustainable range of social and physical infrastructure, facilities and services, including retail, commercial and enterprise development to serve the inhabitants of the town and its rural hinterlands as a priority.
• Provide an improved quality of life for its residents and ensure that growth in population and services is maximised to a level which will maintain a vibrant day time and night-time economy within the town, while maintaining and enhancing its physical assets, unique character and natural attributes.
• Ensure that the town is attractive, liveable, vibrant, with well-designed urban places that have diverse and integrated communities enjoying a high quality of life which promote a sense of place and personal wellbeing which is universally accessible.
• Relieve traffic congestion with the development of the N69 Listowel by-pass so as to provide a safe and sustainable urban environment in which to travel via sustainable modes of transport such as cycling and walking and to enhance the public realm of Listowel.
• Promote sustainable transport and climate resilience through Active travel measures.
• Reimagining Listowel’s unique existing built heritage through redesign, innovation and technology
• Reaffirm the critical role of the town centre and its heritage status.  Implement positive measures for its continued vibrancy, using its attractive built form as a positive factor while acknowledging the strong level of protection for buildings and structures necessary to maintain its character. 
• Ensure development is of a high visual and architectural standard to contribute positively to the attractiveness of the streetscapes and enhance the attractiveness of the town to both residents and visitors alike.
• Maximise the potential of tourism by developing a quality and range of tourism product that will attract tourists and increase vibrancy in the town on a year-round basis.
• Protect and enhance the conservation value of the River Feale and the Lower River Shannon SAC.
• Develop a strategy for the sustainable transition of Listowel as a regional hub for tourism, outdoor activity and recreation, incorporating: The North Kerry Greenway, The River Feale Blueway, Childers Park and Woodlands, Arts and Culture, Heritage and Food.
• Locate new development within the town core to ensure it complies with the national objective of compact growth and ensure it contributes positively to the attractiveness of the streetscape.
• Identify and prioritise under-used/vacant sites and derelict opportunity sites for re-use and re-development.