PLANS to allocate €2 million to Limerick projects from the fund paid into by property developers were welcomed by members of Limerick City and County Council this week.
But one councillor raised concerns that the fund has dwindled by €1 million.
The total spend from this year’s Development Levy fund is €2 million and this will go towards projects including community facilities and measures to make Limerick an age-friendly city.
Projects that will receive the biggest allocation include €226,000 for an athletics track in Newcastle West and €200,000 for the Murroe sports facility.
Cllr Cian Prendiville (Solidarity) welcomed the allocations, but said he is “concerned the amount available has collapsed. We had €3.3 million in total development levies fell due last year – that has fallen to €2 million this year”.
“It is sad to see bus lanes, cycle lanes and other projects getting the axe because of this. Disability playgrounds, city centre wi-fi were all in the five year plan for this scheme,” he said.
Cllr John Sheehan (FG) said he was “glad to see the new scheme is angled towards recreation and tourism,” adding that he is delighted with the funding for the Newcastle West project.
He noted that the council is very often “the first port of call for such groups and we have provided seed funding for so many projects”.
Councillors were told that the fund was the amount of money expected to be collected for the year in development levies but that adjustments could be made if this figure changes or any of the projects allocated funds experience delays.
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