The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Town council votes against building 10 new houses
April 1995
TRALEE Town Council members voted against building 10 new houses at a cost of £424,000 at Rahoonane despite the fact that it has no suitable alternative site available and the Department of the Environment had approved the scheme.
Acting Town Engineer John Sheehan said the council is actively looking at four separate sites in Tralee with a view to acquiring them for the construction of council housing estates.
There was a heated debate among councillors prior to the rejection by eight votes to three of the proposal by council officials to build 10 new houses in Rahoonane.
Mr Sheehan told the meeting that the 10 new houses would in effect finish the estate. He explained that the new houses would front onto the Killeen Road and eliminate the unfinished look the estate currently has because the rear of houses are seen from the road.
Cllr Maeve Spring - who was the only councillor who abstained on the vote - said she could not vote on the proposal because of it was contradictory.
Cllr Spring said she did not understand how the wishes of councillors in regard to one aspect of the housing regulations on the housing list could be over-ruled while on the other hand, they had to decide whether the new houses should go ahead or not.
Cllr Spring was referring to a vote passed by council members that the present housing list be used to allocate houses in Tralee about to be completed by the council.
Acting Town Manager Gerry
Heneghan told councillors that a new housing list is being drawn up and this would be used by the Manager in allocating future houses.
During the debate Cllr Norma Foley said she was becoming very frustrated because councillors are told certain matters are out of their hands like the provision of a halting site while other decisions have to be made by the council.
“We are being ignored again. We are told to find a consensus but none of our decisions are being listened to,” she complained.