Councillors have voted to proceed with a controversial car park development at the seafront in Waterville.
The Chief Executive's Report on the Part VIII planning process was brought before the recent meeting of Kenmare Municipal District, in which Martin O'Donoghue strongly recommended that councillors approve the proposal.
Kerry County Council wants to extend and improve the seafront car park, but many locals are against the plan.
Some Councillors at the Kenmare Municipal District meeting described the proposed development as the most divisive issue they have come across in their time as elected members.
A local action group previously protested against the development outside a council meeting last year, while the Friends of the Irish Environment had written to all Kerry county councillors to urge them to refuse the proposal.
The council received 387 submissions from the public, 174 of which supported the proposals and 213 expressed concerns about the development.
Independent councillor, Johnny Healy-Rae, criticised what he called very poor public consultation by the council on this issue.
He claimed that the council did nothing to alleviate the fears of ratepayers, and that the majority of them are not in favour of the development - these claims were disputed by Cllr Norma Moriarty, who's from Waterville.
While councillors noted the divisiveness of the issue up to this point, several encouraged the people of Waterville to move on from it whatever the outcome of the vote.
The proposal to proceed with the development was passed by four votes to two.
Fianna Fáil councillors Norma Moriarty and John Francis Flynn, Fine Gael's Patrick O'Connor Scarteen, and Independent Dan McCarthy were those who voted in favour.
The two against were Independent Johnny Healy-Rae and Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Cahill.
