Keep your hands off our Kilkenny, Waterford City Council warned
The letters, petitions and coupons from the Kilkenny People Newspaper and statements of anger were delivered to City Hall in Waterford yesterday by a delegation led by Kilkenny-based Fine Gael TD Phil Hogan and Fianna Fáil councillor Bobby Aylward.
A further 600 submissions, the bulk of which oppose the extension, have been logged by City Hall officials.
Under the extension proposal, 5,000 acres, 20 townlands and about 5,000 people would now find themselves living in a suburb of Waterford city rather than south Kilkenny.
Mr Aylward is a staunch Kilkenny man and has threatened to sell up and move rather than become a Waterford man. He claims there are many people who feel as passionately about the issue as himself.
“Under no circumstance will we stand back and allow this to happen. The area in question is the second fastest growing area outside of Kilkenny city. It now has a population of 5,000 but it is anticipated that it will grow to between 17,000 and 18,000.
“Kilkenny County Council has put a lot of resources into Belview Port, into zoning and planning permission in the area. It’s a strategic, industrial area and its loss to Kilkenny would be catastrophic.”
He said Kilkenny County Council has six months to reply to the proposed extension and has engaged two consultants to back up the objections voiced by people living in the region.
Fine Gael’s Phil Hogan said the campaign of opposition to the proposed boundary extension has gathered steam in recent weeks. While Waterford City Council says it makes sense for the area to become part of Waterford, Deputy Hogan says people will fight to remain part of Kilkenny.
