Benefits will also accrue
LIMERICK City Council will gain in stature and its status is to be enhanced as a generator of growth in the new joint local authority arrangement.
Commenting on Wednesday afternoon on the Environment Minister, Phil Hogan’s just released document on details of the new joint authority arrangement for Limerick City and County councils,
the mayor, who with the city manager recently met with the minister in Dublin, said that overall, they are satisfied that the city is gaining from the new arrangement.
“In a nutshell, the manager, Tom Mackey, said to me, ‘a good day’s work has been done’, and my own assessment from what I’ve read is that we hold what we have”.
Under the new arrangement, the city will extend its boundary into the neighbouring urban areas, bringing its population immediately up to 100,000 and producing an accompanying increase in rates to the city.
There are measures in place to reduce the commercial rate in the city.
The document stresses that proposals are underway to ensure that the status, identity, character and heritage of the city are maintained and enhanced within the unified authority.
There will be a merger of relevant bodies – city and county development boards, joint policing committees, enterprise boards.
It is also confirmed that arrangements are underway in consultation with the Limerick Regeneration agencies, to bring their administration under the aegis of the new joint management.
Alignment of the objectives of both authorities will be part of the transition towards a joint authority in the interest of the development of Limerick as a gateway city.
