Greens want Tralee Denny site office block plans scrapped
A KEY aspect of Kerry County Council’s plans for the development of the former Denny Site in Tralee should be scrapped in light of the Coronavirus crisis according to the Kerry branch of the Green Party.
The 2.3-acre site at the Island of Geese was donated to the people of Tralee by Kerry Group in March 2014 shortly before the dissolution of Tralee Town Council.
Last February Kerry County Council and the Tralee Municipal District unveiled plans for the site including a three-storey office block; a large park and ‘public realm’ area featuring a children’s play area; public seating and a ‘shallow amphitheatre’ with curved seating.
However, in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Green Party Tralee representative Anne-Marie Fuller says that the proposed office block should be cut from the council’s plans.
“We now need more open spaces in which we can move freely while maintaining physical distance,” said Ms Fuller.
“This space, which was gifted to the people of Tralee, is ideally situated to provide a new, openair public realm space for the whole community.
“The current proposals for the use of part of the site, which was donated to the Council by the Kerry Group, is to construct a building with office and retail or restaurant space and use 30 per cent of the land space to public realm use.
“Tralee doesn’t need more office, retail and café space. In fact, in the call for ideas for the site, only 1.74 per cent of respondents wanted office space. 59.74 per cent of people wanted it used for arts/culture, social/community, or public amenity,” Ms Fuller said.
“This could be a wonderful, large, flexible space for a variety of purposes such as open-air performances; films and concerts; street art and exhibitions; festivals; farmers’ markets and an enjoyable park to socialise and relax in.
“The current public realm plan, which covers 30 per cent of the site, includes a bit of space for these possibilities but on a limited basis, and would lead to people being packed into the space. It makes sense now to abandon the plan to build large buildings on the site [and] allocate 100% of the space for public realm use.”
The Kerry branch of the party has submitted its proposals for the Island of Geese site to Kerry County Council as part of the recent Public Consultation period, which closed on May 15.