SK greenway hearing reopens
THE An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the proposed south Kerry greenway will resume next week for another seven days.
The first four days of the hearing – Tuesday, November 12 to Friday, November 15 – will focus on the planning application for the project.
This will include submissions from remaining observers on the projects and include farmer and landowner Morgan Lyne, local business woman June O’Connell and environmentalist Peter Sweetman, who has previously threatened a judicial review of the project over new information submitted by the local authority when the oral hearing began last month.
Also listed to give evidence are James and Patricia Walsh, Mary O’Neill and Christy McDonnell and Karen McDonnell.
Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday and Thursday is dedicated to questions on the project and on Friday An Bord Pleanála’s inspector will put questions to the parties involved.
The following week of the hearing is dedicated to plans by Kerry County Council to compulsory purchase order (CPO) the land for the project.
Objectors to the CPO are listed to give evidence on Tuesday and include 17 witnesses, including James and Patricia Walsh, Jeremiah Coffey, Denis Coffey and Carmel Ni Mhorain, Michael Patrick Clifford, Mike Garvey, Jack and Michael Quirke.
Also listed to give evidence is Patrick Fogarty, Mary O’Neill, Christy McDonnell, Breda O’Neill Collins, Pat Murphy, Paul O’Shea, Mary Mahoney, James, Thomas and John Anthony Moriarty and James Sheahan.
The oral hearing will not take place on Wednesday, November 20, but will continue the rest of the week concluding on Friday, November 22. Closing statements on the project will take place on that day.
The oral hearing is to provide information to An Bord Pleanála to allow them to make a decision on whether or not to grant planning for the project and also whether or not to allow the council to CPO the necessary lands.
This decision is not expected to be made until the New Year. The oral hearing has already sat for eight days last month making it one of the longest running oral hearings in Kerry.