Council scraps rezoning near weather station

A WARNING from consultants that the building of houses, retail warehousing and leisure facilities could have a “fatal effect” on a weather station outside Caherciveen has been heeded by Kerry County Council.

It has dropped a proposal to rezone land surrounding Valentia Observatory after representations from various Government departments and services in Japan, Norway, Germany, France, Britain and Spain that rely on scientific information from the observatory.

Believed to be one of the oldest in the world, the observatory has been providing essential data since 1865 and is a critical part of the Met Éireann service.