Two county councillors say they have no recollection of zoning lands in areas prone to flooding along the Dingle Peninsula.
Fine Gael's Seamus Cosaí Fitzgerald and Breandán Fitzgerald of Fianna Fáil, who are both councillors for Dingle, were responding to criticism from the Office of the Planning Regulator.
The State’s planning watchdog criticised proposals by Kerry County Council relating to rezoning lands along the Dingle Peninsula.
The Office of the Planning Regulator called on the council to justify its proposed changes to the
Draft Corca Dhuibhne Electoral Area Local Area Plan; it claims sites in Castlegregory, Castlemaine and Dingle are being zoned for highly vulnerable uses in flood risk areas.
Kerry County Council says the OPR made a submission on the draft plan.
All submissions received by the council will be complied into a report, which will be presented to members of the Municipal District for consideration.
A spokesperson for the council says it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on an individual submission at this point in a statutory process; the council’s response will be included in the report.
Cllr Breandán Fitzgerald says the OPR stated the overall plan was balanced; he will study its submission, but feels local views also have to be taken into account:
Cllr Seamus Cosaí Fitzgerald says he will also examine the OPR submission, but believes their issue with the flood storage area in Dingle is not fair.
The Fine Gael councillor has issues with the Office of Public Works and feels it should negotiate to buy private land needed for flood relief programmes:
