An Taisce to appeal Killarney car park plans

Heritage body An Taisce is to appeal plans for a public car park on a Killarney town section of the Ring of Kerry.

Fáilte Ireland is seeking to develop a public car park alongside Killarney Golf and Fishing Club to “support tourism amenities”.

Killarney Town Council, however, approved the planning application but reduced, by a third, the size of the 120-space car park to just 80 spaces.

An Taisce is appealing the decision to An Bord Pleanála. A number of local residents had also voiced concerns and some had lodged objections.

The proposed car park is directly opposite the Liebherr Ireland crane facility, one of Kerry’s largest employers. The proposed new amenity is also likely to provide parking for the factory, Fáilte Ireland advised the town council.

The tourism body had envisaged a new car park on the roadside site, at the entrance to Killarney Golf Club at Fossa to serve not just the lakeside golf course — which it largely owns — but also to facilitate the public using a cycleway and a walkway.

It told the planning authority, the town council, the car park was being developed “primarily as an amenity to support tourism” in the locality.

An Taisce, in an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, questions the need for a car park to serve a cycle lane and it raises concerns about visual effect of a surface car park on the scenic route. A decision is due from the appeals body in November.