Councillors in Killarney Municipal District (MD) have met to agree an updated settlements plan.
The plan designates or zones land for residential, commercial, recreational, and other uses, as well as defining policies for new building, infrastructure, and public spaces.
The new settlements plan will replace the Killarney Town Development Plan, and the Killarney Municipal District Local Area Plan which lapsed in 2024.
The meeting was to consider submissions made when the settlements plan, agreed in September, went out for public consultation.
As well as from members of the public, submissions were also received from statutory bodies including Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), Uisce Éireann, and the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR).
The councillors decided to uphold many of their initial decisions, maintaining they are in line with the County Development Plan.
The council executive was concerned that the Office of the Planning Regulator may not approve of the councillors’ decisions.
Some councillors took issue with the language used by the executive, which the representatives’ claimed mischaracterised their decisions.
In one instance, the councillors wanted two working dairy farms on the outskirts of Killarney to be zoned as strategic residential reserves, meaning they would only be eligible for development when 80 percent of land zoned for new residential developments was used.
The council executive stated that this would result in a loss of around 1,175 residential units within Killarney.
Many councillors were extremely unhappy with this, arguing the land could still be developed, and that no houses were being blocked.
The Killarney MD settlements plan will go before the next full council meeting for adoption.
If dissatisfied, the Office of the Planning Regulator can refer the plan to the Department Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
