Councillors in Kerry are calling for local authorities to have first rights to State and semi-State land which comes on the market.
The councillors' remarks come in the wake of Killarney Town Council's failure to acquire 60 acres of Coillte forestry, on the eastern edge of the town, despite a tender of what it believed to be a realistic figure of over €2 million.
"Private enterprise should not have the first right to State land. Killarney Town Council cannot meet its statutory obligations in relation to housing," said Cllr Sean O'Grady (Lab). Chairman of Cork Kerry Tourism Cllr Michael Courtney (Ind) said: "It's an absolute disgrace. They are a State body. We need that land. It's for the good of the public." Local authorities had no chance in a sealed tender system, he added.
The council had drawn up plans and carried out feasibility studies for a mix of industrial, housing, and recreational development. It also intended to use the land to redesign a local authority housing estate alongside. The site, known as Cronin's Wood, contains a ring fort and is elevated with many mature broadleaf trees. Although there were 400 people on the waiting list for housing in Killarney, its highest number ever, there is also a waiting list for industrial land.
Small businesses want to move from the town centre to large sites and there was great interest among them as the site borders an existing industrial area. It is believed a private property developer bought the land.
A spokesperson for Coillte said it was obliged to get the best value, especially when the site went to public tender. It is the third time the council has failed to acquire land for housing in the past year.