Kerry County Council has been asked to consider zoning lands beside the MTU campus to allow for the construction of a new student village.
The request was made in a submission on the council’s new proposed Tralee Municipal District’s Settlements’ Plan, which was recently out to public consultation.
The proposed student village at Dromtacker would be able to live 900 students.
Currently the land is proposed to be classified as strategic residential reserve, which gives it no specific objective or controls.
Kerry County Council recently invited submissions or observations from the public on the Tralee Municipal District Settlements’ Plan, which will replace the Tralee Town Development Plan in the council’s wider County Development Plan.
The council says this new plan will provide a comprehensive local planning framework with clear policies and objectives including land use zoning, for the common good.
One submission received by the council was from Kane Williams Architect, requested by Eamonn McQuinn Consulting on behalf of the landowner Bertie Foran, to change the zoning of his 12.37-hectare site near the MTU.
The submission asks for 7.68-hectares at the northern end to be zoned education and the rest new residential, to allow for the construction of a student village and a new residential estate.
The site is directly across the road from the MTU’s north campus, and stretches over to the Clash Road across from the old racecourse.
The submission writes that the student village is proposed to comprise high-quality, professionally managed, purpose-built student accommodation, as well as a student centre and recreational sports pitches, overall catering for around 900 students.
The proposed residential estate is to the southern end of the site, and would include around 140 dwellings.
The submission says the lands at Dromtacker offer the MTU the opportunity to plan for expansion in the short-term, and create a physical connection to the south campus in the long-term.
This would, the submission says, allow the MTU to join other universities which have on-campus or adjacent accommodation and compete with them for students at a national and international level.
The council says all written submissions or observations will be duly considered by the planning authority and taken into consideration before it finalises the new plan.
