A town council which was outbid by a private developer in its efforts to buy 60 acres of Coillte land has now slapped a protection notice on "selected areas" over much of the woodland.
Killarney Town Council said it had acted on receipt of a tip- off that there was to be a large-scale tree-clearance on the site at Cronin's Wood, Killarney, which was why it issued notice of a preservation order covering thousands of trees on the site.
The notice refers to areas the council would have preserved for amenity/woodland had it bought the land, town engineer Mr Denis O'Connor said.
According to Mr O'Connor, the council had carried out considerable preliminary studies and had wanted the land for a mix of recreation, amenity and industrial use.
The council wanted to expand the existing Woodlands industrial estate and redesign the Ballyspillane housing estate.
The notice now goes on public notice and submissions may be made up to June 27th. It includes an attempt to preserve a substantial number of mature specimen broadleaf trees, mainly oak, beech and lime trees, many of which are the remnants of woodland planted as part of an 18th-century hunting demesne.
Also included are large boundary areas planted during the late 1970s and 1990s to act as screening for adjacent public roads. The site is currently zoned agricultural.
Councillors, angry at the failure of the council to purchase the site despite an offer of more than €2 million, will have to agree to rezone if it is to be used as housing.
A spokesman for the developer, Dunboy Construction Ltd, denied any plans for large-scale tree-clearance. It had no definite plans for development.