Westmeath County Council vary land zoning under County Development Plan

Last week members of Westmeath County Council considered a range of proposals to vary the Westmeath County Development Plan 2021-2027.

The proposed variations cover the incorporation of a 'Settlement Area Plan' for Mullingar into the county development plan and to integrate the 'Specific Planning Policy Requirements' (SPPRs) from the sustainable residential development and settlements guidelines for planning authorities into the development plan.

A number of sites in and around the county town are to have the zoning designation changes under the proposed variations.

How this will affect agriculture land prices in the coming year is a matter for debate, but more development requires changes to zoning and potential knock on affects on the valuation of agricultural land.

The recently completed consultation phase helped provide a detailed framework to guide the sustainable growth and development of Mullingar and to ensure that the Westmeath County Development Plan is fully aligned with the Specific Planning Policy Requirements.

The County Development plan guides agricultural land use through policies aimed at sustainable development, rural protection, and maintaining Westmeath's character. While the plan doesn't dictate specific prices, it influences land value by creating a framework for development, which can impact demand for different types of land. Most of the rezonign changes related to mixed use land.

Earlier this year the Annual SCSI/Teagasc Agricultural Land Review and Outlook 2025 report provided a selection of useful insights.

This year’s annual survey gave a county-by-county breakdown of the prices of good and poor-quality land.

The publication serves as a resource for understanding trends in the sale of agricultural land across Ireland and evaluates land values across various counties and provinces in Ireland.

The results presented generated as part of a Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) survey, which was conducted on a nationwide basis in February and March 2025, and completed by SCSI members active in farmland sales, auctions, leasing and valuation.

In terms of prices, the average value of non-residential farmland in 2024 was €9,907/ac, which is an increase of 7% from €9,297 in 2023.

The national average value of good quality land was €13,178/ac, up 7% from €12,308/ac in 2023, with national average poor-quality land reported at €6,636/ac – up 6% from €6,286/ac.

Additionally, the report forecasts that farmland values will rise by 6% on average this year.

Westmeath came eight overall in the top prices with the good land fetching an average of €16,171, while poor quality land came in around an average of €7,458.

The highest, excluding Dublin which was not detailed, was Wexford who at €23,000 for good land and €8,759 for poor land was considerably ahead of all other counties. The second highest was Kildare where one acre of good quality land was €18,680, and poor land reached €10,200.