Councillors ignore planners’ advice by voting to rezone land

MEMBERS of Kerry County Council are continuing to ignore their county manager and senior planners by voting for the rezoning of land in An Daingean, Castlegregory and Killorglin.

The rezoning will enable the land to be developed for holiday homes, business purposes and light industry.

And, in the face of huge growth in holiday homes in An Daingean and surrounding areas, a local group yesterday called on the council to halt such building.

Sean Brosnan, spokesman for Dingle Sustainable Development Group, said it was unsustainable to continue building so many houses, especially holiday homes.

“Planning seems to have been on an ad hoc basis. A lot of it is down to the rezoning,” he said.

“Landowners have an insatiable appetite for getting land rezoned and who can blame them, there’s a fortune to be made.”

Mr Brosnan’s group has called for the withdrawal of a draft development plan, claiming it contained inaccurate data and had no particular vision, or concrete proposals, for the development of the town.

The group said there was no assessment of the impact of building more holiday accommodation.

“Does the council want newly-built, Dubliner-owned housing to put locally-owned B&Bs out of business?” the group asked in a submission to the council.

“The planners do not seem to know the town they aim to develop, who lives and works there, who visits and why, what housing basic services the community has now, or will need.”

The group said the town should be allowed to grow around the people who live there “rather than as a result of speculative development driven by tax concessions to private individuals.”

In Castlegregory, the council has, despite the advice of senior planning engineer Tom Sheehy, decided to rezone land that will enable a local seafood company to expand.

The land is of great scenic value and a natural asset which should be protected, according to planners.

Cllr Michael O’Shea said Brandon Bay Seafoods employed eight people in Castlegregory. It was the only indigenous company there and the expansion would provide 15 jobs.

Also, in spite of a warning from county manager Martin Riordan, the council agreed to rezone almost six hectares at Tullig, Killorglin, from rural general to light industrial.

Mr Riordan said councillors were at risk of facing a possible legal action by agreeing to the rezoning.

However, Independent councillor Michael Healy-Rae said an established business which was providing employment was operating on the site.