Laois County plan change needed to free up land at closed mart

Rezoning of the land around Mountrath Mart will be proposed in 2024 to allow the site to be used for other purposes that would benefit the town.

Cllr James Kelly, Independent, said the mart is located on a big site but just a small part of the property is zoned for general business use with the remainder zone for agricultural use.

While plans remain in place to reopen the art, Cllr Kelly told a recent meeting of councillors and Laios County Council officials that the County Development plan will have to be changed. He said this was needed to free up the property for non-farming purposes.

“I’ll be proposing that we have this site rezoned to have a feasibility study to be done on that more of the site needs to be zoned for enterprise and employment or industrial. I’ll be looking for support from the council for a material contravention to rezone the land,” he said.

He said such a change would be a major help in re-opening the mart but also pave the way for other businesses to locate on the site.

The Mountrath Co-Op Livestock Mart committee made an unsuccessful effort to reopen it as a going concern in a partnership agreement in 2023. 

The Laois Local Enterprise Office told Cllr Kelly in November that could not fund the reopening of the mart which closed in 2019 due to high costs.