Village Centre

A healthy village centre is the heart of the community, a place where people go to buy goods, to meet other people and just to spend time. A village centre should be distinctive and unique and have its own sense of character.

Kinsaley is unusual as a rural village in that it is located in such close proximity to other centres (e.g. Portmarnock and Malahide). Accordingly, the development and expansion of the village Centre will need to be carefully considered and managed in order to create a place where people will want to shop locally and spend time, despite a range of other much larger centres being in easy reach. In order to be sustainable, Kinsaley needs to provide local services in keeping with its designation as a ‘level 5’ centre in the Fingal Development Plan so that it can cater for the needs of the local community whilst building resilience to larger competing centres.

• What makes the village centre distinctive and unique? How can this be protected and improved?

• What are the challenges currently facing the village centre?

• What types of local shops would you like to see in Kinsaley? What else would you like to see in the village centre (apart from shops)?

• How should the village centre look and feel?

• What effect does Kinsaley’s proximity to larger centres have?

Urban Design

Developing a high quality built environment  is  crucial  in  attracting  inward  investment and employment as well as maximising the enjoyment of current residents of the village. Emphasising the importance of urban design in preparing the LAP will ensure the development of a sense of place through the incorporation of the village’s existing character, natural environmental features, legible and accessible layout, and excellent architecture.