Pursuant to Section 20(3) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), notice is hereby given that jointly Laois County Council and Offaly County Council, being the Planning Authorities for Portarlington, have prepared a Draft Portarlington Joint Local Area Plan 2025-2031 (Draft JLAP).

The Draft JLAP comprises a Written Statement and maps and is accompanied by:

§ a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Environmental Report, prepared in accordance with with the SEA Directive (2001/42/EC) and pursuant to the Planning and Development (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulations 2004 (S.I No. 436 of 2004) (as amended);

§ an Appropriate Assessment (AA) Natura Impact Report pursuant to the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended);

§ a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment pursuant to The Planning System and Flood Risk Management Guidelines (2009); and,

§ a Local Transport Plan pursuant to Area Based Transport Assessment (ABTA) Guidance Notes (2018) and ABTA How to Guide (2021).

The Draft JLAP (Written Statement, including Appendices), SEA Environmental Report, AA Natura Impact Report, Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, Local Transport Plan and Maps, may be inspected from 12^th of November, 2024 to 24^th of December, 2024 inclusive;

(i)     online at http://consult.laois.ie and https://www.offaly.ie/?page_id=31218

(ii)   during opening hours at the following locations:

An information session for members of the public will be held during the public consultation period.

Submissions or observations regarding the Draft JLAP and the associated environmental reports and Local Transport Plan are hereby invited from the public and interested bodies between  12^th of November, 2024 to 24^th of December, inclusive. Children, or groups or associations representing the interests of children, are entitled to make submissions or observations. All written submissions or observations will be duly considered and taken into consideration before the making of the JLAP.

Submissions and observations can be made as follows:

(i)  Via the relevant consultation portal(s): http://consult.laois.ie or https://submit.link/1QP

(ii) By email to: portarlingtonlap@laoiscoco.ie

(iii)   In writing marked “Draft Portarlington Joint Local Area Plan” and sent to the

following relevant address:

Laois County Council, Senior Planner, Áras an Chontae, JFL Avenue, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.

Offaly County Council, Forward Planning, Áras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

§ Submissions/observations made within this period will be taken into consideration by the Elected Members of Laois County Council and / or Offaly County Council as appropriate before the making of the Portarlington Joint Local Area Plan 2025-2031.

§ All submissions should be in one medium only i.e. hard copy or via the consultation portal online or by email. This will avoid the duplication of submission reference numbers and will streamline the process.

§ Submissions should include a map if it refers to particular locations or features. Submissions should be clear and concise. If you need to make a lengthy submission, please attach an executive summary to it. Submissions should preferably be in typed format in the interests of legibility.

§ Include your name and address and, where relevant, details of any organisation, community group or company you represent on a separate page to the content of your submission, in order to assist in complying with the provisions of the Data Protection Act.

§ The Planning process is an open and public one. In that context, all submissions / observations will be taken into consideration, are a matter of public record and will be placed on the County Councils websites. Please be advised that the name of the person(s)/group(s) who make submissions will be published, but personal data will be redacted. This processing of your personal data is lawful under Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR Regulations.

The Councils’ Data Protection Policy is available at: