Roscommon County Councillors are calling for a greater emphasis on sustainable farming to be included as part of the county's new development plan for the next six years.
Local representatives have been discussing the content of the first draft of the plan before it is made available to the public for their feedback later this month.
The 2021-2027 plan sets out the developmental framework for County Roscommon and focuses on a new approach to zoning land as well as how to improve the life of people in towns and villages across the county through special 'settlement' schemes.
The planning office of the local authority presented the draft plan to councillors this afternoon at a special meeting before it will be made available to the public for a 10 week consultation period later this month.
Land will be zoned under a framework including town core, outer core new residential, strategic industrial, or greenbelt.
Councillors raised issues around the role of farming, its long-term sustainability in the county as well as the county's future housing demands.
The document also suggest the population of Roscommon will grow between this year and 2027 by just under six-and-a-half-thousand people.
Concern was expressed by some councillors at plans to develop fifty housing units per square hectare in the Monksland/Bealnamulla area - the highest proposed density in the county.
The local authority and its members urged the public to engage with the public consultation process and to make submissions in order to show a plan for people of all of the county and not the local authority.
