‘Worrying’ lack in Kerry of public feedback on major speed limit changes

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

A Kerry councillor has urged Kerry County Council to ‘step up’ their communication strategy after no public submissions were made for major new speed limit proposals.

Councillor Jackie Healy-Rae said the lack of public feedback was ‘worrying’ and concluded that the public were not aware of the changes.

Kerry County Council has launched a public consultation on draft speed limit bye-laws that would reduce the current 50km/h limit to 30km/h in many urban locations.

The proposals form part of the second phase of a nationwide review of speed limits under the Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021–2030.

While the consultation is due to close on 7 August, no submissions have been received from the public at the time of writing.

Cllr Healy-Rae highlighted that the changes would result in an ‘awful lot’ of new speed zones around the county and that ‘clearly’ people weren’t seeing the drafts.

The proposed changes would affect a number of towns and urban centres, including Tralee, Killarney, Listowel, Ballybunion, Castleisland, Dingle, Milltown, Killorglin, Cahersiveen and Kenmare.

This article was amended on the 4 August to correct the date for when the public consultation was due to close.