Kerry microbrewer wins planning row over tanks
A Co Kerry brewery has won a planning row to continue the operations of its current plant after being granted retrospective planning permission for three large storage tanks.
The Killarney Brewing Company has successfully appealed the decision of Kerry County Council to refuse planning permission for three fermentation vats at its premises on the Flesk Rd, Killarney.
An Bord Pleanála ruled that the retention of the storage tanks combined with plans for the installation of cladding to camouflage them would not seriously injure the amenities of the neighbourhood or other properties in the area subject to compliance with a number of planning conditions. The board also determined that they would not pose a danger to public health.
The company has plans to move the microbrewery which also consists of a small visitor centre, shop, taproom, and restaurant to a yet unbuilt new premises at Fossa outside Killarney.
The council said planning permission for the company’s operations was originally granted on the basis it was a “tourism microbrewery” but that the plant as now exists would be better located in an industrial area. It claimed the need for such large industrial tanks, which measure 6.25m in height, suggested it was no longer a tourism microbrewery.
“They are unsightly and overbearing given their height, scale, and location,” stated a planner’s report.
Consultants representing the Killarney Brewing Company said it was unreasonable to state the main use of the premises was for tourism purposes. They also pointed out that the storage tanks created no noise or odour issues and the visual impact was confined to the rear of a number of properties located at least 55m away.
An inspector with An Bord Pleanála said the capacity of the plant was 250,000 litres per annum which was well below the 4m litres maximum limit which was used as the classification for a microbrewery. She said she did not concur with the council’s view that the tanks were unsightly or out of scale and that the proposed cladding would assist in screening them from view.
