UL wants to designate part of campus as Strategic Development Zone

The university, together with Clare County Council, has formally applied for the designation for roughly 100 acres of land on the Clare side of the campus

Pat Dowling, chief executive of Clare County Council, said the proposed SDZ 'will be an environment with high-quality placemaking providing for a full range of education, research, living, working, and recreational spaces integrated within the university campus environment'. Picture: True Media

The University of Limerick is formally seeking to designate the Clare side of its campus as an economic Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), which would see it develop further into the county.

The university, together with Clare County Council, has formally applied for the designation for roughly 100 acres of land through a new designated activity company, the UL and Clare Economic Development Agency.

The move comes after the elected members of the local authority voted unanimously to seek the designation.

Professor Kerstin Mey, UL president, and Pat Dowling, chief executive of the local authority, have since written to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to start the process. He will now consult with Limerick City and County Council, residents and other interested parties before making a decision.

It is anticipated the decision regarding the SDZ designation will be made by the Government in 2022. If granted, a two-year consultation on the SDZ will also take place.

Pat Dowling, chief executive of Clare County Council, said the proposed SDZ "will be an environment with high-quality placemaking providing for a full range of education, research, living, working, and recreational spaces integrated within the university campus environment".

Any development would be sensitive to the environment and serve as an example of a decarbonisation approach, according to UL.

“It is intended that this zone would be accessible and integrated with Limerick city and have sustainable transport links, including the re-development of the Errina canal link,” said Prof Mey.

The move comes "hand and glove with our commitments to the city", she added. At the beginning of the month, some students moved to UL's new city centre campus, a former derelict site. 

Last June, UL commissioned consultants KPMG to investigate the circumstances which saw the university acquire the Dunnes Stores site on Sarsfield’s Bridge for €8m in 2019 despite the same site being valued at just €3m in 2017.