OWENASS Developments has been given the green light to proceed with their plans to develop 43 acres of lands at Derrycloney after councillors adopted the Mountmellick Local Area Plan on Monday.
Amid reference to “inducements” and “deals done in smoke-filled rooms” all councillors present at the meeting, with the exception of independent Cllr Michael Moloney, voted to accept the draft plan with amendments.
Owenass Developments had first proposed to develop 70 acres of lands, and had sought rezoning for this.
However this proposal was turned down by the controlling group of the council comprised of Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and Independent councillors, because of concerns they had around adverse impacts such a development would have on the town.
Since that decision was made a number of meetings took place between a delegation from the controlling group (Cllrs David Goodwin and Brian Stanley) and the company to resolve the impasse.
Agreement was reached and the company’s new plan which will now go ahead, sees 43 acres of lands zoned for industrial/enterprise use.
The delegation told councillors at Monday’s meeting the company had given them commitments to include five acres in their plan for the development of an amenity park, upgrading of junctions to allay fears on traffic flows and a non-refundable €40,000 to provide traffic calming measures in the town.
Reacting to last Monday’s meeting a company spokesperson said: “We very much welcome the decision by Laois County Council to grant industrial rezoning status to our site at Derrycloney.
“This now clears the way for us to apply for planning permission for the proposed Laois Centrum Business Park development which we believe will be an extremely important addition to Mountmellick and Co. Laois in general.”
The company said their proposals will create in excess of 1,000 jobs and will be worth in the region of €100 million to the local economy.
The spokesperson said: “Owenass Developments has a proven track record and a reputation for complying with planning conditions and for keeping their promises.”
The company refused to be drawn on the accusations made at the council meeting only to state: “Owenass Developments has a very strong track record of abiding by the planning process and complying with any planning conditions laid down.
“In this case, as always, we will implement any conditions which Laois County Council may lay down in the course of this planning process.”
Joe Barrett
© Laois Nationalist
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