Council accused of delaying ‘huge’ expansion plans near Limerick village
“THE BIGGEST investment Kilmallock has ever seen” is being delayed by the council, a local Sinn Fein representative has claimed.
Cllr PJ Carey, speaking at a Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal meeting, said it was agreed by councillors two years ago to dispose of 2.7 acres in Kilmallock Business Park to Dansko -a family-run global dairy trade business.
“Dansko have committed to huge expansion plans which would see Dansko being the biggest factory in the entire local electoral area and the biggest investment this town has ever seen.
“We passed a disposal of land locally in Kilmallock in April 2021 and this went for full council approval the following month. Dansko have been waiting since for this sale to go through. Two years. They have opened a similar facility in the UK in the meantime,” said Cllr Carey.
He was speaking during a motion he put down calling for an “acceptable level of maintenance be carried out at the business park” and that it becomes a priority for the local authority in order to keep the existing business and to encourage other business to establish there.
Cllr Carey said a business is “embarrassed” to bring visitors to the park due to the “obvious neglect”.
He praised Matt Lynch who organised a meeting with businesses.
In response, the council said they acquired Kilmallock Business Park in early 2020 just before Covid and that “under-investment in the park prior to the takeover by the council has led to significant infrastructural and maintenance issues to be dealt with”.
A service level agreement is in place with Kilmallock Tourism to maintain the green areas within the business park.
In 2023, the surface of all existing footpaths will be replaced, all public lighting will be upgraded and vegetation surrounding the lights will be cut back or removed. Investment will be in the order of €100,000.
Cllr Mike Donegan commented that the “previous owners didn't know where the park was”.