This article is from page 10 of the 2005-10-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
A CONSTRUCTION company has been fined for failing to dispose of waste in a proper manner, on the site of a housing es- tate in Ennis.
Callanan Walsh developers, of Mill House, Mill Street, Galway, faced two summonses arising out of an inspection at Shanballa on the Lahinch Road, on August 15, 2005.
Solicitor Mairéad Doyle, for Clare County Council, said a number of complaints were made, stating that burning was taking place on the site.
A council engineer visited the site in Au- gust and noticed a pile of mixed soil, wood, clay and plastic, which hadn’t been segregat- ed. Ms Doyle said plastic and cardboard was scattered around the site.
The engineer attended the site again in Oc- tober and was satisfied that steps were being taken. There was no evidence of burning and
there was no sign of any waste scattered on the site.
Defending solicitor William Cahir said his clients acquired the site and said sections of houses were licensed to independent devel- opers.
He said Callanan Walsh accepted they held overall responsibility for the site but that li- censees who build independently on the site weren’t taking responsibility for the accumu- lation of waste on the site.
“There were instances of third parties bringing waste on to the site,’ said Mr Ca- hir.
He said his clients have spent €5,000 car- rying out work on the site and have put inde- pendent procedures in place.
Ms Doyle replied, “They are the registered owners of the property and the buck stops with them. The matter has been going on since June 2004.”
Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a fine of
€250 on each summons and ordered the defendants to pay €887 council costs and €500 legal costs.
Meanwhile, in the last two years Clare County Council has gone after 758 develop- ers for leaving a mess behind them. But just ten of these were developers of housing es- tates. The local authority issued 314 warning letters, 202 enforcement notices and brought legal proceedings in 42 cases.
The figures were made public by Cllr Pas- chal Fitzgerald (Lab) who said the actions taken fell short of what was needed by peo- ple who were living with the legacy of build- ers’ shoddiness.
“Tm not at all happy with this level of en- Koceonnonle
“Day in and day out, I get people calling me to tell me what a dreadful condition their CI RMKoer Dasa E
“We need more staff working on enforce- Tne toy nn