ABSTRACT
Conservation and development, like urban renewal in America, need coordination of action and investment by multiple interests. The object of the Donegal exercise was not so much to produce a plan for the county as to create a thought process which could be pursued by all the local planning authorities in Ireland. At the county level, the sets of material from the planning areas are put together to form recommended options and budget, upon which final decisions are then made. Reconciling development and conservation thus depends upon a skillful sorting out of goals and values, both public and private. A planning system concerned to reconcile development and conservation must have a framework to bring together all parties, public and private, concerned with both themes. The planning system must also be flexible in time and in scale. Annual planning and budgeting with careful back checking and feedback will make the budget process a more-and-more-accurate tool for making decisions.
