“The city is strangled and our commercial rate base is too small.”
WITH an announcement on the Limerick city boundary issue due from the Minister for the Environment any day now, Limerick northside councillor, Maurice Quinlivan is urging the minister to reject the recommendation of the Brosnan Report and disregard its proposal of a merger of Limerick City and County Councils.
‘The best way forward, in line with the submissions to the boundary committee, made by Limerick City Council and others, is to grant the city an extension of its boundary, which means extending the area presently under the jurisdiction of the city council, while leaving that council in existence and expanding its membershIp, commensurate with its increased geographical area of responsibility,” he states.
Commenting further on the issue he says that Limerick city is in crisis, with thousands of people unemployed and city centre businesses struggling.
“The city is strangled and our commercial rate base is too small.
“We are in a dangerous situation of seeking more rates from an increasingly smaller rate base – it is crystal clear that the city urgently needs a boundary extension and while the last government failed Limerick city, I have concerns now that the new minister will make the wrong decision.”
Insisting that any meaningful local government reform must centre on increasing local democracy by bringing local authorities closer to the people, Cllr Quinlivan adds:
“What is crystal clear to everyone is that our city has unique problems and it’s essential that the city council be maintained in order for us to tackle these problems – a speedy decision on the boundary issue is vital and that must be to extend the boundary – by doing so the Minister would be doing a huge service for the people of Limerick.
