A new housing development which has been given the green light by Waterford Council has the potential to transform Kilmacthomas.
That's according to a local councillor who was commenting in relation to plans for 98 new homes in the Graigueshoneen area.
Labour's Ger Barron says that concerns over services cannot overshadow the urgent need for new housing.
"I can understand people's concerns and their questions on it, but, I welcome this. I think a village needs to grow, a village needs to have new people in it, new blood, to support the existing businesses and to bring new businesses in there. I firmly believe this housing is the crisis of our time."
"If you build it, they will come. Things will happen, I believe, and it's up to us to see that it'll happen. Initially, we need to have a volume of housing, we need to have places for people to live, to work in, work in the village, or work outside the village, to come here."
Councillor Barron has welcomed the decision, saying the village has previously been overlooked.
"There's a great demand for public housing and housing in general. We as a council will be getting 10, 12, whatever, houses for social housing, which is going to add to the other ones that we already have planned in Kilmacthomas, but it won't be half enough. Kilmacthomas has been left behind a little bit in private housing."
"There's been two housing developments, but in other towns and villages, they have had that. I believe it'll be good for the schools, it'll be good for the services. They will respond to it, they will have to respond to it."
