Cork county manager Mr Maurice Moloney was yesterday urged not to use any discretion he might have in planning matters to allow Dairygold move its administration centre from north Cork to the Cork Airport Business Park.
The call came from Mitchelstown Business Association chairman, Mr Tony Lewis, who said it was now clear that serious planning issues had arisen with regard to Dairygold's planned move to the Cork Airport Business Park and the transfer of 120 jobs from north Cork.
"There is a serious doubt as to whether the location of the co-op's administrative section is an allowable activity under the planning permission within which Cork Airport Business Park operates," said Mr Lewis.
"It is extremely important that the county manager should stand by the community of north Cork and not facilitate this move in any way. Dairygold is being dismantled almost on a daily basis, hundreds of jobs are going month by month and the economy of north Cork is being devastated," he said. Mr Lewis's call came despite confirmation by Dairygold chief executive Mr Jerry Henchy that the company ultimately plans to locate its administration headquarters in Mallow and the planned transfer of 120 jobs to the Cork Airport Business Park is a temporary measure.
Dairygold confirmed last week that it planned to move its back office administration from 13 locations in Mallow and Mitchelstown to the Cork Airport Business Park. The move to the business park will not be permanent and Dairygold is preparing plans for a major development on its town centre site near its home store in Mallow which would incorporate new offices, he said.
"While this is at a very early planning stage at present, we hope that new purpose-built offices will be ready in Mallow for Dairygold to move back within the next three years - to coincide with the end of our lease on Cork Airport Business Park premises," he said.
A Dairygold spokesman yesterday insisted that the decision to develop offices in Mallow was part of the company's long term plan. Doubts surrounding whether Dairygold is entitled to locate its administration office at the Cork Airport Business Park under the park's current planning designation were first raised by Mitchelstown-based Fianna Fáil Cllr Kevin O'Keeffe last week.
Cllr O'Keeffe said he believed the Specific Zoning Objectives for the Cork Airport Business Park were for aviation-related uses and he has asked the county manager to investigate whether Dairygold's planned move is in line with planning.
Mr Moloney said Cork County Council had received an inquiry from Dairygold about the move and it was the council's initial view that the existing planning permission for Cork Airport Business Park did not cover such a move.
Mr Moloney told councillors that he expected the council would receive more details from Dairygold which would enable the council to make a final decision on whether such a move would be permissible on the park's current planning designation.
