FINE Gael councillor Liam Galvin has called for proceedings to be initiated on Sheehy’s Hardware site in Abbeyfeale to facilitate rezoning of lands from enterprise and employment to retail.
Speaking in County Hall, Cllr Galvin said he was bring a motion forward on the back of a refusal of a planning application for a LIDL store in the West Limerick town. The site in question, located on the Killarney Road towards Tralee, is known locally as Sheehy’s Hardware.
“In all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen frustration as I have seen over a refusal for a planning application. I will be honest about it, I do think this application was handled very badly,” Cllr Galvin told the Council executive.
“We lost 350 jobs in the town of Abbeyfeale out of Kostal in around the same time. We had an opportunity here to create 70 jobs in a LIDL store in a location that was absolutely ideal for a premises like that. The heart of Abbeyfeale town is choked up with traffic. The traffic is a nightmare, but that location was ideal.”
Cllr Galvin accepted that the lands were zoned but believes there was a way around the issue, offering: “We could have rezoned those lands if people had come to us and asked us.”
“We need to get this over the line. Our town is closing down because of lack of progress and I want to do all I can to create employment in the town.”
Fianna Fail councillor Francis Foley agreed with his Abbeyfeale neighbour and told the Council executive that there is an awful lot of disappointment in the town.
“This application was seen as a major boost for the town as we’ve lost a number of jobs over recent months. Business people are very concerned with regards this refusal. A lot of people are travelling from outside Abbeyfeale to Castleisland, Listowel, and other areas to shop in LIDL and this was a great opportunity,” Cllr Foley opined.
“The zoning wasn’t proper and if we had a chance to discuss it prior to the refusal, we might have been able to do something.
“The people of Abbeyfeale feel we have been left behind,” he added.
In response, the Council said it cannot legally initiate a standalone process to zone the Sheehy’s Hardware site. An amendment to the Abbeyfeale Local Area Plan, councillors were informed, is not possible as the Planning and Development Act 2024 no longer provides for the preparation or amendment of local area plans.
“Under the new legislation, the Development Plan will instead incorporate all settlements that were previously covered by local area plans. A variation to rezone the Sheehy’s Hardware site cannot proceed in isolation. It would require a full review of the entire settlement, followed by a variation of the Development Plan to include the zoning and associated objectives for the town,” the Council explained.
Cllr Galvin asked why they couldn’t vary the County Development Plan again.
“Long ago we used to bring a material contravention where we could rezone lands. Am I right in saying we have to wait two years before we can alter the existing County Development Plan, because this is bigger than what people think inside in this room,” he hit out.
Council Director General, Dr Pat Daly, said they have to be careful as they are dealing with a zoning issue as well as an economic issue.
“I don’t think this local authority has ever failed in terms of supporting economic development and getting behind it. It just has to be done carefully and it has to be done sequentially in terms of planning and the process. That does not guarantee any planning permission thereafter,” he stated.
Dr Daly said that it might now be a case of the Council having to reprioritise the process. However, he did point out that the local authority is “stretched” in the forward planning area.
“I will do all I can to make sure we try and solve it,” he said.
Cllr Galvin accepted the response, but suggested that the handling of the application “falls well below par”.
“The wheels have come off the bandwagon here. This is serious guys. It has to be looked at.”
Cllr Francis Foley warned that LIDL won’t wait around for planning permission if this issue isn’t addressed.
“They’ll move on someplace else so this is a matter of urgency and we need to get this over the line as soon as possible. We can’t wait for two or three years because LIDL won’t wait around while we make a decision,” he concluded.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme