8 December 2006
STATISTICAL PRESS RELEASE SETTLEMENT INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSIS GROUP REPORT ON SETTLEMENT SERVICE CLASSIFICATION NISRA OCCASIONAL PAPER 24
The level of services provided by a settlement cannot always be judged from its population. This is one of the key findings in a report by the Settlement information Classification and Analysis Group, on settlement service classification
Other key findings are:
- Despite its considerably smaller population, Enniskillen is grouped with Coleraine, Newtownards and Omagh on the basis of its shops and other services
- Although Larne and Antrim are large towns in terms of population, their level of service provision is similar to that of Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown and Dungannon
- Downpatrick, Limavady and Strabane were grouped with Ballyclare, Ballymoney and Magherafelt
- There are 38 retail centres in Northern Ireland, providing employment for more people than seems required simply to support the retail needs of the settlement's own resident population. These range in population size from the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area down to Markethill and Moy.
- There are 18 centres of Public Administration, Health and Education, providing employment for more people than seems required simply to support the needs of the settlement's own resident population. These range in population size from the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area down to Garvagh and Irvinestown, but two thirds of these centres are medium-sized towns or bigger, in terms of population.
- Ballycastle, Kilkeel, Lisnaskea, Newcastle and Portrush, although they do not have sufficient numbers of shops and other services to place them in the same category as bigger service centres, nonetheless offer the same range of services as these bigger centres.
- Small settlements in the west of the province are more likely to be service centres than their counterparts in the east, nearer to the effects of Belfast.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The Settlement Information Classification and Analysis Group is an interdepartmental group established to assemble and analyse data relating to the nature, structure and functioning of settlements in Northern Ireland.
- The report is an analysis of a range of statistical data on Northern Ireland settlements, concerning the number and size of services provided. This provides a basis for classifying these settlements according to a number of criteria.
- Additional copies of this report are available from the Department's website: http://www.dsdni.gov.uk
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