New 50 house council estate planned for Tralee in 2017

THE largest single project in Kerry County Council’s three year housing plan will involve the construction of a new council housing estate in Tralee.

As part of the plan a 50 house estate is to be built in the Lohercannon area in 2017.

The project will cost an estimated €9.6 million and is yet to go to the planning stage.

Though full details of the council’s plan for the new estate are yet to be revealed it is understood it will be built on a large site that is already owned by the local authority.

Council management have also pointed out that there is a zoning issue in the area which will likely require a vote by councillors to rezone the site before the project can progress.

The new estate will account for almost half of the houses that the council plan to build as part of the ambitious three year housing programme.

A period of public consultation may be required before planning permission for the development can move ahead.

Cllr Terry O’Brien (Lab) welcomed news of the countywide housing programme but asked management to exercise caution in their planning of the new estate.

Cllr O’Brien said he hoped that the designers of the development would be able to spread the fifty houses around the Lohercannon area rather than concentrating them in one small region which, he said, could potentially upset the residents of other estates in the local area.

The housing plan has been designed with the hopes of housing a quarter of those on the county housing list within the next three years.

At present there are over 2,600 people on Tralee’s housing list but only three council houses in the area ready to be leased.