Go-ahead for €4.3m eco-park

UPWARDS of 50 jobs are to be created during the construction of €4.3 million eco-park in Tralee, due to start next month.

Work has already commenced on the site, close to the Aqua Dome water leisure centre, and is expected to be completed in less than a year.

A contractor for the civil engineering works is to be appointed shortly.

The Lee Valley project, to be based on an existing nature reserve on the western side of the town, is expected to create 20 jobs, full-time and part-time.

Being promoted as a major visitor attraction for Tralee, it will be located on a 10-hectare site opposite the Aqua Dome.

The park will be associated with the Tralee Bay Nature Reserve, an important wildlife area extending from Tralee to Castlegregory.

Tralee Town Council has worked closely on the project with Fáilte Ireland South West, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, IT Tralee, Holiday Tralee and other voluntary and state agencies.

Principal features of the park will include an eco-friendly visitor centre, a wetlands nature zone with safari boat tour of salt marsh habitats, a fresh water activity lake, walking routes and a viewing tower.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, which manages similar parks in Britain, has been involved in the design of the park..

Meanwhile, despite government cutbacks, Kerry County Council is proceeding with plans to build a new, €137 million bypass road in Tralee.

An archaeological survey is currently taking place as part of an investigation into the route of the 13.5km bypass.

A number of trial trenches are being dug to check if any items of archaeological importance lie along the proposed route of the bypass.

The bypass, which should relieve chronic traffic congestion in Tralee, will intersect the main roads linking Tralee to Killarney, Listowel and Killorglin.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) and Kerry County Council are negotiating with more than 70 landowners along the route.