Cleanup costs €10,000 a time
LIMERICK City Council is being urged to get the message out that a 10-acre site on the southside is now available for commercial and mixed development.
The site was rezoned some months ago from residential use to mixed development, and in response to the Limerick Post,
which asked if there has been any drive by the council to promote the site on the commercial market, local councillor, Ger Fahy, said he will be taking this issue up with City Hall.
“We need to put out incentives to attract interest from the business sector and set up preplanning meetings with them.
“We need to clearly get out the message that this is an ideal location for mixed development,” he said.
The site, which has become a problematic issue for he council in terms of persistent and particularly acute anti-social activity overspilling into Rathbane, has been an ongoing headache for the council.
Some months ago, a complete redevelopment of the southside site was given the green light.
The redevelopment was to include a €1.5million allocation to build six new houses on a site close to the Rosbrien Interchange to rehouse members of the Travelling Community from Toppins Field.
However, two of the families were not agreeable to relocate.
Meantime, the site, which is subjected to illegal dumping, had become an eyesore.
“It requires a major clean up every so often and at around €10,000 each time, that is costing the council a lot of money,” points out Cllr Fahy.
“’It was agreed that the best way forward was to get commercial development as well as mixed housing and Traveller accommodation in there.”
Asked if it is realistic to expect that the site will attract interest from the commercial sector, Cllr Fahy replied:
“It is a very large site in a location close to the city centre and there’s plenty of room for commercial units and also open space for recreational purposes – children from neighbouring Rathbane could have sports and play facilities in there
“At the moment, however, we need to put out the message that this is an ideal location for mixed development – what is envisaged is the development of new housing and commercial units for Toppins Field – we have the funding required and now have the opportunity to completely redevelop it, which would benefit the whole area and the entire community”.
