Manager says councillors ‘make it up as they go along’

THE views of an Oxford University professor and a county manager have been ignored by Kerry councillors, who have agreed to rezone historic demesne lands for residential purposes.

The demesne is in the mid-Kerry village of Milltown, a fast-growing area which has seen major housing development in recent years.

Professor Roy Foster described a local area plan for Milltown as a “developer’s charter aimed at turning an integrated Irish village environment into a faceless commuter suburbia.”

The councillors were also criticised by Kerry county manager Martin Riordan, who said councillors were making piecemeal decisions and “making it up as they go along” in regard to planning and zoning issues.

“I haven’t heard one rational argument made on planning and sustainable development grounds, just submissions by landowners for rezoning,” said Mr Riordan during a debate on the Milltown issue.

Senior planning engineer Tom Sheehy claimed councillors were ignoring common good and instead supporting individual landowners who wanted to a build a few houses.

Mr Sheehy opposed a proposal by Fine Gael councillor Tom Sheahan that the land inside Milltown demesne be zoned residential. Mr Sheehy said residential rezoning would mean that Milltown would not have a district amenity. He also warned the land was prone to flooding.

Prof Foster, the Carroll professor of Irish history at Oxford, feared new houses would be crammed around an already fragile social ecosystem, in Milltown, while there was no commitment to vernacular architecture.

“The fields between the rectory and Glen Ellen constitute an ancient greenfield site, forming a protective cordon for an area which is home to several endangered species of wildlife,” he said in a submission to the council. However, the council voted to rezone the lands.

They also voted in favour of re-aligning a route for a possible bypass road, despite being told by planners that this could put the proposed bypass at risk at a cost of millions to the taxpayer.

The Milltown plan will go out for public consultation before coming back again to the council for adoption.