City no place for new HQ
Munchins House, on the Dock Road, which has housed the Department of Agriculture Offices for the county for more than 20 years, has been sold for re-development and the Department of Agriculture is under notice that the lease is not being renewed, which means that a new home must be found for the Department staff. The location of the county headquarters for the disease eradication scheme, livestock services and farm development has been the subject of much criticism by farming organisations over the past decade, because traffic congestion made it difficult for farmers to do business in the city based offices in Limerick.
Coming in for the strongest criticism was the lack of parking facilities for the public including farmers doing business at the office which has been a feature of Munchins House, where most of the parking was restricted to staff and pass holders.
The Department of Agriculture has now been requested to ensure that the new home for the Department services is conveniently located for farmers doing business and they stress that this should ensure preference for a rural base.
Farming leaders in the area have suggested Kilmallock 20 miles from the city as a central base. The selection of a location will be very dependent on the availability of suitable accommodation within the time frame in which the move is scheduled to be completed.
But an alternative city centre location, is certain to get a very strong thumbs down from the farmers.
