Council aiming to create industrial land banks in Ferbane and Birr during 2026

OFFALY County Council is aiming to create industrial land banks in Ferbane and Birr during 2026, a recent meeting was told.
During the January monthly meeting of the local authority the Executive told the Councillors that bringing about more land banks in these places is a priority during the coming year.
The Council is planning to investigate the “potential for the extension of industrial land banks in Ferbane and Birr, Edenderry, Portarlington and Clara to meet the demand for infrastructure for startup SMEs in these locations.” The executive also aims to assist the IDA with the development and promotion of the new industrial Park in Tullamore.
A recent meeting of Birr Municipal District was told that a lack of serviced land is a big problem in Birr and it's stymieing development.
Cllr Seán Maher pointed out that the issue is holding back industrial development in the town. He cited Syngefield Industrial Estate as an example. Syngefield Industrial Estate is thriving and very successful with several companies on site, but it is at capacity and has no room to expand because of the lack of serviced land. “This means that no new companies can come into the estate,” Cllr Maher remarked.
Serviced land is a plot of land that has utilities and infrastructure, such as water, sewage and electricity and is ready for construction. The land can be zoned under one of the Council's zoning designations (such as “residential”) but this is no guarantee that it is serviced.
The problem is also an issue on Roscrea Road in Birr. During a Budget Breakfast meeting held in Tullamore in October, which was attended by the then Minister for Finance Paschal Donohue, Mark Clendennen, Manager of Applied Concepts (which is located on Roscrea Road) told the meeting that there is no serviced land in Birr and he has nowhere to expand his company. He pointed out that he could create 25 new jobs, doubling his workforce but this wasn't possible because of the current situation
Mark asked if it would be possible for the State to provide services on private land which was available to purchase. The Minister told him that he would prefer if he developed on IDA land but if none was available there could be a possibility of providing support to private landowners to develop services on their land.

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