Killarney GPs forced to seek retention

A NUMBER of GPs in Killarney, along with a development company, have been forced to seek planning retention for the use of a building they moved into as a new medical centre last year.

The twin tower block was developed as an office and commercial building. But permission is now required from Killarney Town Council to turn it into a medical centre.

The application follows a ruling by Bord Pleanála in April that the Reeks Gateway Centre required permission for change of use.

The ruling was sought by pharmacists in Killarney who had opposed the relocation of most of the town’s GPs into a single centre.

The town council, however, initially decided permission for change of use was not needed, stating the development was exempt.

The 10 GPs involved have now applied for retention. The application was in conjunction with local developers Sunday’s Well Property, who built the office block and retail centre at the height of the boom.

The application with Killarney Town Council’s planning department also involves a change of use and subdivision of a retail unit, involving a cafe and pharmacy, in the building.

A rift between most of the town’s doctors and pharmacists has been extremely heated and public. Many pharmacists in Killarney, backed by their union, opposed the centralisation of the GPs.

In April last, in a move which surprised the public following the Bord Pleanála decision, the GPs issued a statement naming individual pharmacists and accusing them of “mounting an on-going campaign” against the provision of modern medical facilities in the town.

At the time, the doctors dismissed the board’s decision: “Our medical practices are compliant with planning and if any technical issues need to be regularised we will work closely with Killarney Town Council, to remedy these.”

However, they lodged a formal application for retention and change of use 10 days ago. It was returned because of a technicality and was re-lodged on July 5.