Land belonging to one of Kerry's newest councillors became substantially more valuable yesterday following the adoption of a local area plan by the county council.
Killorglin farmer, Cllr Johnny O'Connor (FG), was elected to Kerry County Council in June. Yesterday, at the first full meeting of the council, he absented himself from the chamber during discussion of a joint submission made on behalf of himself and a neighbour, Mr Paddy Corcoran, on the Killorglin area plan. He said he wished to absent himself as he had a personal interest in the item.
Earlier this year, planners recommended the inclusion of Cllr O'Connor's 30 acres within the new town boundary and that it be zoned from agricultural to low density.
In a submission, Cllr O'Connor's engineer asked that a portion - around 5 acres of the lands at Ardmoneel - be zoned medium density to take into account current housing demand in Killorglin. Low density housing allows for up to five houses per acre while medium density allows up to 10 per acre. Planners opposed the submission in view of the need for "a transition" between the rural and urban areas. There was enough land already for medium density housing in Killorglin, Mr Tom Sheehy, senior executive engineer with the council, said.
Low-density housing was specifically recommended in Killorglin in order to address the one-off housing problem in the countryside, Mr Sheehy said.
"People can't get detached houses near towns. They are being forced into the countryside. That is why we are recommending low density," he said.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael Cahill said the lands bordered some of the council's own high density housing estates, and other lands alongside were to be zoned as medium density. The proposal to increase the density on Cllr O'Connor's land was proposed by Cllr Michael Connor-Scarteen (FG) and seconded by Cllr Cahill.
Three submissions for higher density were adopted by councillors yesterday. Cllr O'Connor seconded the proposal by Cllr Michael Healy-Rae to adopt the overall amended area plan for Killorglin.
Afterwards, Cllr O'Connor said he had no plans to sell or develop the land. The council planners themselves had recommended the zoning of his agricultural land to low density.
"My engineer looked at it and suggested instead of low density a small section of it should be medium density. My whole farm is inside the town," he said.
Proposals to defer the adoption of the six-year Killorglin local area plan to allow for more public consultation on the overall plan were not accepted. There was a tight timeframe in which to adopt a plan legally once the process had started and there had already been a number of public consultations on the issue, Mr Willie Wixted, acting county manager, said.