Carlow County Council with the support of Rural Regeneration & Development Fund have appointed the consultancy company Vincent Hannon Architects (VHA) to develop a plan for the most effective presentation, management and enhancement of the town’s public realm, with particular reference to the following:
- Public space network
- Connectivity and permeability
- Parking and traffic
- Legibility/manoeuvrability
- Signage and Way finding
- History and heritage
- Tourist destination
The aim of the project is to develop a strategy for the town’s public realm, which can be used to identify and provide guidance for individual detail design projects. The plan will be visual and identify both short term and longer-term projects.
It is intended that the strategy will stimulate interest and activity among all the community in carrying out activity to enhance the town of Rathvilly, and that all stakeholders will be involved in developing a shared vision for the development of Rathvilly. VHA has gathered a team with general expertise in urban design and regeneration, road design, traffic management and planning who will work in partnership with a cross functional departmental team of Carlow County Council to delivery the plan for Rathvilly.
This plan will indicate, in broad terms, the role of the public realm including key urban spaces designated for enhancement, pedestrian priority linkages and the nature of restraint in remaining trafficked areas (speed reduction, space sharing, calming, lane restrictions, vehicle restrictions, bus priority). The strategy will contain an overall design statement which will inform the development of the public realm. Queries in respect of the Plan should be addressed to enterprise@carlowcoco.ie