Limerick councillor calls for rezoning of wasteland on the southside

CITY council may face years of cleaning charges on a 14-acre landbank on the southside - unless it is rezoned, says Cllr Ger Fahy.

Councillors last year shelved a proposal from former city manager Tom Mackey to rezone five acres of Toppins Field.

He wanted to see the land rezoned from residential use to ‘district centre’.

But amid fears a major supermarket could come in, and take more trade from the city centre, councillors said they instead wanted to wait and see an area plan for the site near Rathbane.

The site has suffered from illegal dumping, overgrowth, and rat infestations.

Cllr Fahy says people could be waiting years for a masterplan in the area - and instead wants it rezoned to allow potential development.

“It is costing the council money to keep it clean. If an application came in which would be suitable for the community, and business, at least we would have the opportunity to agree on it,” he said.

However, he said he would be against the presence of a major retailer on the site, saying: “It was agreed we should concentrate on the city centre for retail like this.”

Instead, he wants to see community projects in the area.

“If an application was submitted for community development, at least we could then have the opportunity to agree an application suitable for the area. My fear we could be waiting for a masterplan for years. This would mean the ongoing rubbish tipping in the area. The council would have to continue paying a lot of money to clean up the area on an ongoing basis because of the rubbish being dumped there,” he concluded.