Killarney Municipal District Council is expected to have to revisit plans for the redevelopment of the Áras Phádraig site and a number of other infrastructural projects earmarked for the town following what is understood to be a technical hitch during the planning stages, KillarneyToday.com can reveal.
A number of councillors have confirmed that they have been informed by senior officials of an issue that arose regarding the public consultation stage of the Part 8 planning process.
It is understood that the crux might relate to a small number of observations submitted via an online portal option which might have been inadvertently overlooked.
Councillors believe it might now be deemed necessary to issue another invitation to the public to have their say on the matter – or at least give consideration to the unseen submissions – before the elected members again vote either for or against the plans.
The reinvention of the site, which will take years to conclude, will involve the demolition of the existing building and construction of a three-storey 230-seat theatre and community building.
There will, in addition, be a HSE run six-storey primary care centre right alongside and the buildings will be connected via a public plaza.
Six of the seven local councillors voted in favour of the Áras Phádraig redevelopment at a specially convened meeting last February but Cllr Martin Grady was away on work duty on the day of the vote.
He told KillarneyToday.com this week that he has major reservations about the Áras Phádraig plans being approved and he has questioned the need to the HSE to be given a share of the site for a six-storey primary care building.
“Surely the HSE has enough land of its own in Killarney rather than the council giving them access to the people’s land. The Áras Phádraig was gifted by the friars to the people of Killarney and not to the HSE,” Cllr Grady stressed.
His understanding is that there will be 80 separate offices contained within the six-story building and he queries if they are all occupied by staff, and members of the public are attending the clinics, where are the people visiting the theatre going to park?
“We will already be down 59 car parking spaces on Lewis Road and the town is totally congested as it is,” Cllr Grady said.
“I will be totally against the HSE coming into the Áras Phádraig. It would be absolutely criminal to give away our assets to them when they have so much vacant land of their own just up the road”.
Cllr Grady said he will also be asking council officials to make the Part 8 planning process more user-friendly, particularly when it comes to making a submission.
“Everything must be done to ensure every voice is heard,” he said.
It is understood that the another project that might need to be revisited in relation to the public consultation phase are the MD O’Shea’s-Ballycasheen roadway.
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