People are being "left in limbo" when it comes to planning permission because of the M24.
The upgrade of the N24 from Cahir to Waterford has been postponed with no exact route narrowed down as of yet.
This means that those looking to build anywhere along the vast 'red zone' where the road might go, are being refused permission indefinitely.
Local woman, Kate, and her fiancé have applied a number of times to build a house over the border in the Mooncoin area:
"The N24 route - the proposed route - has been suspended. And that's where we lie in Limbo because, if it was terminated, then we could reapply for planning.
"Or if it was active and they were going to decide on the route corridors, then we'd know that we can't build a house there or our planning is not within one of the corridors and we can build a house there.
"But at the moment, you don't know either way. I know a lot of people within the catchment area who are in the same boat as us.
"It's just bitterly disappointing to be honest."
'Frozen in Limbo'
The couple's application has been refused a number of times before, however they say this is the first time the proposed motorway has been given as the reason.
According to Kate, the local planning authority sought advice from Transport Infrastructure Ireland before the application was refused.
She says they don't know what to do now:
"My local politician has gone to the Director of Services, the road's design sector, the senior executive engineer in the TII, and everyone is kind of coming back with the same answer; nobody knows.
"The decision was supposed to be made and Stage 2 was supposed to begin at the start of December with online public consultations and it was postponed because of Covid until the 11th of January.
"But from the 11th of January there was a complete freeze on it and everyone is just frozen in Limbo."
No answers in sight
The matter has been raised in both houses of the Oireachtas by numerous politicians recently.
The N24 upgrade was unsuccessful in securing funding by the TII this year.
Waterford's John Cummins was one of those to speak on the matter in the Seanad this week where he said the further delay to the selection of the route just isn't good enough:
"It's the primary connection between the mid-west region and the south east region, which is of such importance particularly in the context of Brexit and the onward connections to Rosslare Port.
"The decision was made just before Christmas to pause funding for this year for the Cahir-Waterford section of that road."
Senator Cummins also pointed out that €1.5million, of the €5billion allocated for roads projects in the National Development Plan, would resolve the issue:
"It's a decision that I think needs to be reversed. I think there are six or seven roads that haven't had a funding allocation for 2022.
"€1.5million would continue that project along through the planning and route-selection stages.
"It has to happen because, in order for us as a State to be ready to spend the €5billion+ envelope of money on roads, we have to have the projects ready to go."
As it stands, there is no clarity for local woman, Kate, regarding the planning predicament that she and her fiancé find themselves in.
It's a predicament she says is hugely frustrating:
"The area is so vast that there are so many people caught up within it. There might never be a road within our site or anywhere near our site. But until they decide on the route corridors, everyone is left stuck.
"Everyone's been told just to kind of hold tight for the moment but there's only a certain amount of time you can hold tight for.
"You know, life does pass you by."
