Kerry County Council insists there's enough land zoned for industrial and commercial use in Listowel, despite reservations from local councillors.
The issue was raised at the Listowel Municipal District meeting this week by Cllrs Mike Kennelly and Jimmy Moloney.
They asked the council to ensure there's provision for future industrial, commercial or educational development in the Listowel Town Development Plan.
They questioned the availability of land for development, and as to whether they were being misled by the council.
The draft variation of the Listowel town plan is due to come before the full council next week for agreement.
It proposes to zone 14.1 hectares and 9.6 hectares of undeveloped land at two separate locations as industrial /enterprise / employment.
Councillors raised concerns that if a company wanted to create a development in Listowel, there may not be land available, as there are no publicly owned lands zoned for industrial or commercial development.
They say the two separate land holdings that are proposed to be zoned for such purposes, at Clieveragh and adjacent to Kerry Group, are privately owned.
Councillors Kennelly and Moloney also questioned whether there were already plans for Clieveragh which would result in no space for other developments in the coming years; they said if that was the case the council's information to them was misleading.
Acting Senior Planner with Kerry County Council, Damien Ginty assured councillors they weren't being misled, and the council wasn't aware of any plans for the area.
He said it wasn't up to the council to look at ownership, and he was satisfied there's adequate land zoned for industrial and commercial use in Listowel to deal with future needs.
Mr Ginty added that if this land was developed and more was needed, the town plan could be varied to zone additional lands.
