Kildare County Council Hosts Landmark Symposium on Unlocking Land, Housing and Infrastructure Potential
18th February 2026: Kildare County Council has successfully hosted its inaugural “Unlocking Potential: Strategies for Land, Housing & Infrastructure Activation” symposium, bringing together senior leaders from Local and National Government, utilities, housing agencies and the development sector for a focused half-day of collaboration and solution building.
The event, which was hosted by Kildare County Council’s newly established Kildare Land Activation Office, took place at the Osprey Hotel Naas on Thursday 12th February. It convened a wide range of industry experts and policymakers to examine solutions for accelerating housing and infrastructure delivery across County Kildare. Discussions centered on unlocking land, streamlining planning and activating smart, coordinated infrastructure solutions needed to support sustainable growth in the county.
Four expert-led panel sessions each addressed a critical dimension of land and housing activation, highlighting the alignment of this process with the recently launched Government Housing Action Plan 2025 – 2030, which calls on all local authorities to accelerate delivery:
- Land Activation in Kildare - Speakers, including representatives from Kildare County Council and Ballymore Homes, explored infrastructure deficits, barriers to delivery, and Kildare’s housing targets.
- Unlocking Zoned Land & Utilities – Engineers and planners from Kildare County Council were joined by representatives from Uisce Eireann, EirGrid and Irish Rail to discuss integrated planning and infrastructure activation.
- Funding Models – Panelists from HISCo, HBFI, Bank of Ireland and the National Land Activation Office outlined the financial tools needed to bring delivery-ready projects forward.
- Accelerating Housing Delivery - Experts addressed vacancy, dereliction, Part V delivery, strategic land activation and local government innovation.
Speaking at the symposium, Sonya Kavanagh, Chief Executive, Kildare County Council, underlined this beginning of a new coordinated effort to accelerate housing supply and infrastructure delivery in Kildare and stated: “We want to unlock potential, we want to work with all stakeholders to address deficits and to make Kildare an even better place to live, work, visit and to do business”.
The event concluded with a call to action for all stakeholders to capitalize on the upcoming Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF), which provides delivery-ready projects. Kildare County Council is already identifying potential projects for the first funding call.
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