Special report by Rebekah Commane
NEITHER pub nor shop…that is the dilemma faced by villagers in Feohanagh, Monagea and Castletown, who are forced to travel distances for their pint of beer and carton of milk.
Meanwhile, other west Limerick villages, Kilmeedy, Knockaderry, Mountcollins, Strand and Ashford, have pubs but no shops.
Petrol stations and post offices have also disappeared from the landscape in once thriving townlands.
These statistics were highlighted to the Limerick Post this week by Cllr Jerome Scanlan.
He accused Limerick County Council’s planning department of being “anti-rural” in its outlook to development, and asked to take a fresh approach to the matter.
According to him, the attitude toward planning permission in rural areas is passed down from the National Spatial Strategy, which he described as anti-rural”.
“Two planning applications were made to the council recently for business set-ups in the county, and they were told the location was too rural.
“All they would have needed was signage, and they would have brought jobs to the area and a boost to the local economy”.
He explained that there had been shops in most rural areas, but they were forced to close.
“They have very steep rates to pay at €3,000 a year, but If other businesses were given planning permission to base in these county areas, there’s no doubt the shops would survive”.
He added that the only good news story was in Tournafulla, where a store reopened.
“Shops are at the heart of a thriving community and it’s terrible to see them close, one after another”.
Cllr Scanlan put a motion before the council that they take a “reasonable and fair approach to applicants requesting fresh and renewed permission to operate businesses in rural areas within our county”.
He also asked that the relevant minister intervene in order to protect employment, “thereby sustaining vibrant communities.
“The planning authority needs to be positive about light development in rural areas, and it should be encouraged from a national level,” the councillor concluded.
One county resident told the Limerick Post he had to travel 30 miles for petrol.
Murroe’s Cllr John Egan, said that the problem wasn’t as rife in east Limerick.
“It’s not as big an issue in our constituency, as most villages have shops.
“There has been a slow down in trade of course, but it hasn’t hit as hard here as it has in the west”.
