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A full 15 years after the site was donated to the community by the Franciscan Order, planning permission is finally being sought to develop the prime Áras Phádraig site on Lewis Road.
Kerry County Council will this week advance the plans to the next stage with a public notice to be published prior to the next phase of the redevelopment being implemented.
The council has plans to develop a state-of-the-art three-storey theatre and community building on the site as well as a public plaza with the Health Service Executive intending to build a six-storey primary care centre almost adjacent to the municipal building.
Documentation relating to the plans will be available for inspection on the Kerry County Council website his week and the information it will feature includes a screening report, a preliminary environmental impact assessment, a bat impact report, a design statement, solar studies and a mobility management plan.
Urban Regeneration and Development Fund funding approval has already been received for the regeneration of the Aras Phádraig.
The Franciscan friars donated the 2,623sq m Áras Phádraig complex – including an old-style theatre – to the town in 2009 but a legal hitch and complications with the Charities Regulator resulted in the building being off-limits for a decade and a half.
The documentation will be available on the Kerry County Council website (www.kerrycoco.ie) https://consult.kerrycoco.ie/en/consultation/part-8-redevelopment-aras-phadraig
Submissions and observations with respect to the proposed development may be made in writing to Kerry County Council prior to 4.00pm on Thursday, December 17.
The progress has been welcomed this Tuesday by Cllr Niall Kelleher who said, after years of hold-ups and delays, it was wonderful to see progress finally being made on such a vital resource in the town centre.
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