Residents of Dunmore East have called on Waterford County Council to drastically reduce the ‘excessive’ amount of land zoned for residential development in the village and nearby Killea.
In submissions on the new Waterford County Development Plan for 2011 to 2017,
the residents claim that residential lands should be returned to agricultural use because Dunmore East suffered from a lack of infrastructure and could not sustain a significant increase in population.
Killea Residents Group submitted that the Draft Plan provided for excessive zoning of residential land around Dunmore East. The road infrastructure could not accommodate the projected growth and the existing national school was at capacity.
Concern was expressed by Brigid Rodriguez, 6 Pine Hill, Dunmore East and Paddy and Ethna Early, of Killea, regarding the granting of permission for new houses in the village.
A submission by Tom and Sally Anne Stumpf, Knockacurran, Killea, stated that Dunmore East currently had five times too much residential zoned land – 69 hectares compared to 13 hectares required to meet the County Council’s projected population increase. If this land was developed the population of the village would more than treble from approximately 1,500 to 5,500 residents.
The Draft Plan contained a projected population increase of 50% by 2017, which was unsuitable given the infrastructure deficit in the village, the submission stated. The zoning of Killea as a ‘village centre’ was inappropriate and should be removed from the final version of the plan as the only facilities there were a pub, Catholic Church and boys national school.
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