The Government has been urged to think again about the omission of a specific allocation for investment in parks and recreational facilities in the National Development Plan.
At its annual conference in Dublin yesterday, the Irish Landscape Institute criticised the Department of Finance for rejecting a recommendation by the ESRI that £250 million per year should be earmarked for social, cultural and recreational projects.
Mr Feargus McGarvey, the institute president, said the absence of public funding for new public spaces contrasted with a growing realisation among private sector developers of the value of good landscaping in "selling" new apartment complexes or business parks.
Apart from the four Dublin local authorities, where there are well-established parks departments, there were no landscape professionals employed in local authorities in the State - and no plans by the Department of the Environment to put such resources in place.
Prof John FitzGerald, of the ESRI, said it had assigned the highest priority to investing in social, cultural and recreational projects, along with housing and transport, because the "poor provision" of recreational facilities was at odds with the needs of an increasingly prosperous society. He said better recreational facilities would enhance the lifestyles of most people. Such "intangibles" as theatre, architecture, access to the countryside and well-designed public parks were also important in defining an area and making it more attractive for investment.
The conference was told that an allocation of £250 million a year for six years, £1.5 billion in total, could fund projects for civic and green space renewal, new urban parks, plazas and open spaces as well as seafront amenities, historic gardens and sports grounds.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said increasing development pressures meant there was an "urgent need" for a proper appraisal of Ireland's landscapes to "ensure that the environment and heritage are maintained in a sustainable manner".
He said a final set of guidelines for planning authorities on landscape assessment would be published early next year. The aim was to take a more proactive approach to assessing landscape character so that areas which could absorb development could be identified.
At the conference dinner last night it was announced that the renovation of Barronstrand Street, Waterford, a triangular public space in front of the Catholic cathedral, by landscape architect Bernard Seymour, was the overall winner of the institute's design awards this year.
