Proposals for the Town Square, Market Quarter, Casement Plaza, Austin Stack Plaza are welcome. Regeneration of Pembroke Street, Edward Street, Castle Street and Boherbue must also be included in the Public Realm Strategy.
The Multi Storey car park on Edward Street and underground car park in Abbey Court should be re-opened to provide additional car parking spaces and reduce the requirement for on street car-parking. The multi-storey car park on Edward St. will also contribute to a balance in the provision of car-parking across the town.
Vacant properties and lands currently lying idle in the urban core should be earmarked and prioritised for significant redevelopment or demolition and construction as appropriate. The incentivisation of infill redevelopment should be supported, particularly on strategic development sites or buildings. Forward thinking plans with an ambition for quality re- development and brownfield regeneration should be supported and streamlined through the planning process. Particular focus should be provided on the amalgamation of properties on a street-by-street basis in the town centre where considerable vacancy exists, with support from local authorities to enable alternate use, redevelopment or in specific circumstances the use of CPOs for undeveloped commercial properties.
We are seeking as part of the County Development Plan, and through the Strategic Growth Plan for Tralee, for the local authority to prioritise development in the existing industrial estates in Clash and Monavalley. Clash is currently zoned as mixed use, and this should be zoned as Industrial Enterprise and Employment.
Both parks are suffering from lack of investment, identity, significant building deterioration (Clash in particular),environmental improvements and lack the physical public realm and landscaping infrastructure expected from modern industrial parks that would attract new quality industry.
The former planning strategy to revitalise the industrial estates based on specific industrial sectors of high-technology and science has not been followed through on and the focus, coordination and development of both parks must now be revisited in order to attract future employment.
Advancement of connections to the ‘Tralee Ring-Road’ from Monavalley (Tralee Northern Relief Road from Forge Cross to Bracker O’Regan Road via R556 junction in Lisloose), and the creation of a critical exit back on to the Tralee Ring Road from Clash, along with advancement of the Ballymullen to Clash Inner Relief Road would serve to improve both sites. Expansion of both locations to lands on the Bracker O’Regan Road and Ballybeggan Racetrack should be secondary to first maximising the potential from the existing industrial estates to create quality employment.
The development of the Island of Geese as an Innovation District is welcomed but a timeline for this development is required.
The objective to expand the Kerry Technology Park and Business Innovation Centre for economic development and increased employment opportunities, should not be at the expense of town centre development of innovation zones and modern office facilities.
Town Centre should be prioritised for the development of modern office buildings of sufficient scale to encourage FDI and Indigenous Companies to locate to the town centre and create high quality employment. Locations identified for such developments include Island of Geese site and proposed regeneration areas on the John Joe Sheehy Road.
The development of the opportunity site at Fels Point on the Dan Spring Road as a conference and events centre and the development of the Ballymullen Roundabout site for modern office buildings should be linked with pedestrian access to the town centre.
Retail
The retail role in town centre is evolving, it is imperative that the County Development Plan revisits the retail control zone attributed to the town centre streets in Tralee, and as part of the overall strategy for Tralee town takes into consideration alternate office, community, culture and residential uses for vacated ground floor premises no longer fit for modern retail purposes.
Further planning permission approved for ‘big-box’ retail adjacent to the existing Retail Parks in Manor West and Manor East, added to the existing vacant space in the existing parks, will result in circa 230,000ft2 of available retail space outside the town centre coming on the market. In context this extra available space is just 20,000ft2 shy of the largest retail development in the Southwest Region (Mahon Point Retail in Cork).
The further expansion of out-of-town retail development, while a welcome potential employer, will provide a greater challenge to town centre commercial activity and could if not addressed encourage people away from the town centre and into their cars which appears contradictory with the aims of the RSES and the NPF.
With Retail being the second largest employer in Kerry (14%) it is vital that Tralee’s retail offering is protected and enhanced. To ensure that the town centre and Manor retail offering is supportive of each other, and acts as one single unit, an effective joint retail strategy is essential for Tralee that encourages people to both locations in Tralee town. Currently there is a disconnect between the two locations, which must be reversed so they operate as one integrated (infrastructure) and connected (transport) entity.
The development of Tralee Town Centre Shopping Centre and the former Dunnes Stores property in the Mall, should be investigated.
It is a policy of the Plan to identify sites in a poor state of repair or neglect under the Derelict Sites Act 1990. Derelict sites should be sympathetically renovated in keeping with the character of the area and should be finished in suitable materials.
Enforcement orders should be acted on for owners of vacant and derelict properties in the town centre. Many properties on Denny St., Edward St, Rock St., Castle Street and Pembroke St. are vacant for many years and are not being maintained.
The development of a proposed access road to Manor West Retail Park from the Tralee Bypass will direct more people to the Retail Park and thus avoiding the town centre. Providing a regular shuttle service to the town centre will encourage more visitors to also visit the town centre.
Access
The new County Development Plan must be underpinned by a commitment to investment in the inter-county infrastructure within the remit of the county council and the publication of new Active Travel and Town Mobility plans providing for greater internal connectivity within Tralee and connecting peripheral areas to the town. Particularly focused on sustainable mobility, the keys to which are public transport and active travel.
Specifically, it must support delivery of strategic sustainable transport projects including an expansive urban electric public bus for the Tralee area and associated infrastructure, that integrates the MTU, Manor West and the suburbs of Tralee to the town centre, and integrates further with a public bus service for neighbouring towns and villages.
Leveraging off existing and planned greenways to extend the safe passageway for cyclists and walkers will make Kerry towns more enticing to visitors and encourage active and sustainable tourism. Active travel should be supported across Tralee. This will require further investment in cycling infrastructure and improvement of the public realm to support pedestrians, that interconnects and compliments the greenway infrastructure around the town. Tralee must ensure that these facilities are delivered in conjunction with or in advance of future development and are sufficient to cope with increasing demand.
Tralee is a key component of the regional economy and performs an important role in the county. The new Development Plan must build on this by creating the right conditions for the creation of quality jobs in the right locations. Compact growth involves locating employment hubs in close proximity to high density residential areas, thereby eliminating or reducing the need to commute. This should be a feature of the Development Plan. Public transport should also be considered in this context, with employment zones located close to key transport hubs. An excellent example of this type of development is the Centre Point Building on the John Joe Sheehy Road and its close proximity to the railway station and Fenit- Tralee greenway.
This needs to include regular high quality bus access linking manor west retail park to Tralee Town Centre, MTU and Kerry Technology Park to Tralee Town Centre. ‘Shuttle services to Tralee Bay activity locations (Fenit, Maharees, Banna) should also be introduced during summer months.