In essence this high level GZT category is intended to provide for zones which deal mainly with exploiting the physical resource base.
Agriculture (P1) is a sub-category intended to provide for zones directed at farming and related activities.
Forestry (P2) would include for example zones where growing trees for commercial gain would be the main use. It would exclude zones for the protection of natural wooded areas as these zones would have a nature conservation or related intended main use.
Aquaculture and fishing (P3) would for example include zones which cover land or water areas which are intended to be used for fishing or aquaculture purposes.
Quarrying/mining (P4) is a sub-category to provide for zones where extraction of stone or aggregate is the main intended use.
Mixed/general primary sector uses, including rural (P5) is a sub-category intended for zones which have as a main purpose the provision of any two or more of the other listed Primary Sector purposes (agriculture, forestry etc). Zones which fall into this sub-category would not indicate any preference between the zones which fall into the other listed sub-categories.
Other primary sector (P6) is a catchall sub-category which is intended to cater for any Primary Sector zones which do not fit well into any of the other sub-categories within this Primary Sector GZT category. It is not envisaged that this sub-category will be often used as in particular the mixed sub-category (P5) would cater for many of the zones which do not easily fall within the other sub-categories (ie P1 to P4).
Commercial, retail would include any form of commercial or retail zone where the main aim is to sell goods or services to the public.
Industrial, enterprise, employment refers to zones where manufacturing and the provision of related services are the primary intended uses.
Office, business/technology park and related (C3) is a sub-category for zones where office or technology/research facilities are the main intended uses.
Warehouse (C4) is a sub-category where the primary use would be the storage of goods, equipment etc. Retail warehouse zones are not included in this sub-category due to their significant retail function.
Tourism and related (C5) would for example include zones where the main uses would be hotels, marinas or other types of uses which are directed mainly at servicing tourists/holiday makers.
Mixed/general commercial/industrial/enterprise (C6) sub-category would cater for zones where there is a mix of one or more of the other specific sub-categories (C1 to C5) in a way where there is no clear preferences or predominance for any one of the uses indicated in these other sub-categories.
Other commercial/industrial/enterprise/economic development (C7) is a catchall sub-category intended to cater for any commerce/industry/enterprise/economic development use which does not fit into any of the other sub-categories C1 to C6. It may be expected that this sub-category would be infrequently used given the range of other sub-categories (C1 to C5) and the mixed sub-category (C6).
In essence this broad GZT category is intended to cater for the range of social or community services or facilities which are provided mainly but not exclusively by the public sector.
Education (S1) would for example include all types of zone where the land would primarily be used for teaching or training and would include any type school (pre-primary, primary, secondary), as well as land zoned for university, institute of technology or other post school proposes. The means of provision, public or private, is not a relevant factor when viewing zones in this sub-category.
Health and related (S2) would for example include hospitals and clinics, whether provided through public or private means.
Community facilities (S3) would for example include nursing homes, cemeteries, community halls and any other facility which are intended to provide some form of community service. Public or private delivery is not a factor in this case.
General public administration (S4) would for example include local authority or government department offices and non-commercial state agencies uses.
Mixed/general services/community facilities (S5) would include cases where the zone indicates a range of different possible uses of a community services/facilities nature (ie more than one of the S1 to S4 sub-categories).
Other community services/facilities (S6) is a catchall category which would probably only be used very occasionally but would provide for zones which provided some form of specific community service/facility which is not covered by the other categories (S1 to S5).
In essence this GZT category is to provide mainly for the physical engineering services which are needed to support modern living and working.
Transport is a sub-category related to the movement of people or goods. It is one of the sub-categories which is subdivided into lower level categories (tsub-sub-categories), mainly because of the very significant difference between the uses in these sub-sub-categories.
Water/Wastewater is a sub-category intended to cater for any zonings which related mainly to the purification, storage and/or the distribution of water.
Gas and electricity
Telecommunications (N4) would for example provide for zones which relate to telecommunications masts.
Solid waste (N5) would provide for example for zones where the main use would be solid waste disposal sites, incinerators, bring banks, etc.
Other networks and basic infrastructure/utilities (N6) is the catchall sub-category which may be expected to be used only infrequently given that virtually all network and services/utilities related zones should be covered in one of the other sub-categories or sub-sub-categories (N1 to N5).
New/proposed residential, strategic residential reserve (R1) is a sub-category which applies where the zone relates only to undeveloped land where the intention is for residential development to take place.
Existing residential (R2). Some plans distinguish between residential zones where the land involved is undeveloped ,and where there is existing housing. The zones related to this latter category are most frequently termed ‘Existing Residential’, or some very similar name. Such zones would be classified into this sub-category.
Residential, mixed residential and other uses (R3). This sub-category provides for cases where residential zones do not fall directly into one of the sub-categories R1 or R2, or when there is a distinct component of the zone which enables other residential type or related uses to occur in the zone. It is a catchall sub-category which could be used in the case of zones which have a primary or strong residential intention but which straddle the other residential sub-categories
Strategic residential reserve (R4). A number of plans identify areas which are intended for residential development at some future date. Normaly no details regarding the density or form of residential development which should occur in these areas are set out in the Plan.
In essence this broad GZT category is intended for zones which cater for ‘green’, recreation and conservation related issues.
Open space, park (G1) would cater for zones where the intention is to retain areas as undeveloped and for mainly passive open space related activities. The open space/park areas could of course contain active play facilities such as children’s play areas but these would be only a smaller component (say under 30%) of the overall area involved. Judgement calls may be required if the active component exceeds say 30% as to whether the zone falls within this category or the Active open space category (G4).
Walkway, cycleway, bridal paths (G2) is a sub-category for zones where the main intention is to provide for travel by foot, cycle or horse. They most frequently occur alongside rivers but could of course occur elsewhere. In some cases they occur as buffer corridors and could be classified into the sub-category G3 mentioned below, but in such cases it would be more appropriate to place these zones into this sub-category where there is specific mention of their role in relation to walking, cycling or horse riding.
The Conservation, amenity or buffer space, corridor/belt. landscape protection (G3) sub-category is intended for zones where the main aim is to provide some level of conservation, whether of biodiversity, visual amenity or quite. Natura 2000 sites or other designations in terms of EU Directives would not be recorded as part of this GZT exercise as this is information which will be available in DevPlanGIS from other sources.
Active open space (G4) is a sub-category into which zones which provide for stadia, GAA pitches, golf courses, rugby or soccer fields etc should be placed. If these facilities are part of a much larger open area zone then a judgement call is required to determine if the zone falls within this sub-category or the Open space, park sub-category (G1). As a general guide, if more than 30% but less than 50% of the area would be take up with the facilities mentioned above then it is probably the case that the zone should be classified into this sub-category, with a judgement call being required to make the final determination. However if more than 50% of the land area would be so taken up then the zone would definitely need to be classified into this sub-category.
Mixed/general ‘green’, recreation and conservation and other (G5). This catchall sub-category is intended to cater for those cases where a zone contains objectives which explicitly straddle two or more of the other sub-categories (G1 to G4).
Mixed Use, general development, opportunity/proposal site (M1) is a sub-category which is intended to cater for zones which are specifically mixed use in nature (eg named ‘Mixed Use’) or which although having some other name are in effect general mixed use zones (eg ‘General Development’). In the case of Opportunity Sites or Proposal Sites a judgment would need to be made regarding whether or not the intention is to provide for a wide range of uses, or to give clear preference to a specific or more focused type of development (eg residential, commercial), in which case the opportunity/proposal site zone would be more appropriately allocated to one of the other GZT categories/sub-categories/sub-sub-categories.
City/Town/Village centre or central area (M2). This sub-category is intended for those zones which cover central parts of cities, towns or villages. In virtually all cases a mix of uses is encouraged in these zones.
District, neighbourhood centre (M3) is a sub-category into which various forms of zonings related to the establishment of mixed use nodes away from the central area.
Built up area (M4) is to cater for zoning designations which occur only occasionally and which are intended to cover the wide range of uses which occur in areas which have already been built. The ‘Existing Residential’ zones which occur in some Plans would not be allocated into this sub-category as they invariably have objectives which relate to protecting/enhancing only one objective, namely, residential amenity.
Other mixed uses (M5) is the catchall sub-category which can be used in the case of a zone which clearly has a mixed use objective but which for some reason does not fit easily into the above mixed use sub-categories (M1 to M4).
This is a final catchall category which would only be used if a zone did not fit comfortably into any of the other categories, sub-categories or sub-sub-categories. .
Strategic Reserve, white land (O1) is to cater for those cases where land is zoned for development at some time in the future but no objectives or specific controls are indicated. White land is sometimes the term used for land which falls into this sub-category.
General (O2) This is the final catchall sub-category which is intended to be the place where any zone which does not fit into any of the other sub-categories or sub-sub-categories can be allocated. Given the extensive nature of the overall GZT classification scheme set out above it is not expected that there would be many classifications into this sub-category.