PROPOSAL TO REZONE LAND FOR NEW HOTEL
A possible vote on rezoning land for a proposed hotel in Fermoy could be one of the final acts of the town’s local authority before the June elections following a motion by Cllr Peter Merrigan to seek a variation to the Town Development Plan.
“By doing this we will send a message out that we want to get the economy moving again in Ireland and in Fermoy,” Cllr Merrigan said.
Fermoy Town Council officials warned that any wording of a variation to the development plan must be ‘legally robust’ and added that advice on such wording must be sought before progress can be made.
The move to rezone the land in Fermoy, situated on the banks of the Blackwater and adjacent to the town park, came following a meeting with property developer Tim Lawton last November.
Mr Lawton then told members of Fermoy Town Council that he ‘will not be spending another penny’ on the proposed hotel until they agree to rezone the land after his company’s previous attempt to build on the site of Fermoy House ground to a halt, at a cost of some €500,000 to the developer.
Fermoy Town Council is expected to vote on the wording of the proposal next month. Should the motion carry the local authority will then have to send notice and copies of the proposed variation to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, An Bord Pleanala and adjoining authorities.
Public copies of the proposal would also be available for public viewing for at least 4 weeks, with any submissions made in that period to be included in a manager’s report to the council. In theory the vote on rezoning could be made within 6 weeks of any successful vote to start proceedings on a variation plan.
Should the vote at February’s meeting of Fermoy Town Council approve a move for a variation of the Town Development Plan a final vote could take place in the April or May sittings of the local authority.
“Time has passed us on this at great speed,” Cllr Michael Hanley said. “We cannot mess about on this any longer or waste anymore time on it.”
Published:
Thursday 22nd January 5:21pm
