Major new Fermoy hotel hangs on rezoning

THE nine members of a local council will decide next Tuesday whether to re-zone a site, allowing a hotel and housing development to proceed.

The Mayor of Fermoy, Cllr John Murphy, said that while he was all for a new hotel and housing for the town he had serious concerns and wouldn’t accept the current scale of the proposal.

“I think myself that at four storeys the hotel is too high.

“On top of this the site has to be raised because of the flood level and it would cut off the skyline,” Cllr Murphy said.

He also said that 73 houses on five acres adjoining the hotel represented too high a density.

“I think what we need are 30-35 up-market houses which would blend in with Georgian houses in that area and the Church of Ireland,” he said.

Peter Merrigan, a prominent member of the Fermoy Business Association and a fellow town councillor, said he was totally in favour of the development.

“The idea of having a modern three or four star hotel in the town is desirable. We’re sadly lacking a hotel with conference facilities and facilities for weddings. People will always have reservations about any relatively dense housing, but according to planning laws this isn’t high density,” Mr Merrigan said.

He added that while locals might like to see fewer, but more expensive homes in the project, the market might not be there for them in Fermoy at present.

“Nobody - up til yesterday - approached me personally with any objections to it. The county council planning office has only received four objections to date” Mr Merrigan said,

He said he would be surprised if his fellow councillors didn’t approve the project.

Fermoy Enterprise Board chairman, Michael Hanley, is also lending his support to the project.

“I think Fermoy desperately needs this. It’s an absolutely vital piece of the jigsaw for the town’s future,” he said.

Mr Hanley acknowledged that vehicles entering and exiting the site might lead to additional traffic problems in a town that suffers from gridlock.

However, he pointed out that there would be only a short space of time between the completion of the hotel and houses and the opening of the new bypass.

Lawton Developments chief executive, Tim Lawton, said he was confident that town councillors would vote in favour of his plan.

“The planners are in favour of what we’ve presented to them. We’ve had lots of negotiations and discussions with them. What we have is the best opportunity for Fermoy. Obviously people have varying views as to what should, or shouldn’t, be built,” Mr Lawton said.