Kilkenny County Council has voted in favour of a partnership with the National Treasury Management Agency for the funding and running of the brewery site.
The project will be called the Kilkenny Abbey Quarter Development partnership and will be owned 50/50 between the council and NTMA.
The item was up before yesterday’s meeting and a few hours was spent getting a presentation on the site by the CEO Colette Byrne and Martin Prendiville the Head of Finance.
The motion was carried winning out by 18 votes to 5.
Breda Gardiner proposed that the vote be deferred for a week until a public meeting took place to discuss it however that vote also lost out 18 votes to 5.
Those who voted against the proposal were Malcolm Noonan, Breda Gardiner, Sean Tyrrell, Melissa McCarthy and David Kennedy.
What this partnership means is that the project will be owned by both parties and funded by both, taking the financial burden solely off the council.
It also helps the council keep control of the site, as opposed to it being developed by a private company.
The board would be made up of two people from the NTMA, two from the council and an independent chairman.
A number of issues were raised about the site including access to it, however the CEO says there will be no through traffic to it and the project will blend into the City’s landscape staying sympathetic to its heritage.
Meanwhile, up to 200 people turned out at the Home Rule Club in Kilkenny last night for a public meeting on the future of the brewery site arranged by the group, Save Kilkenny.
Margaret O’Brien, who chaired the event, criticised the council for not deferring yesterday’s vote until Friday.
She says they will now be looking at legal avenues available to them.
The public were also given the floor to express their concerns about the development.
