This article is from page 7 of the 2007-03-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
CLARE County Council has set aside warnings from one of its execu- tive engineers against a €60m hous- ing development in Clarecastle.
The engineer had pointed to fears that water shortages in the area could temporarily shut down the Roche Ire- land plant. An Taisce also objected to the scheme.
However, the council last week granted planning permission to Sean Lyne and Noel Connellan for 244 residential units on a 25-acre site on the Kildysart Road outside Clarecas- ate
The two undertook to upgrade the infrastructure in the area. Work will not start on the project until the two businessmen construct a temporary waste water treatment facility.
An internal memo released with the decision on Friday revealed that Executive Engineer, Sean Considine stated last July that “developments like the one proposed cannot be al- lowed to proceed with the ongoing scenario present”.
Mr Considine had received a phonecall from Pat O’Shea at Roche Ireland that day over the inadequate water supply for the plant.
The inadequate supply, according to Mr Considine, “could have serious consequences as the factory could be temporarily closed down by morn-
hea
Mr Considine said, “The water supply in the Clarecastle area is very insufficient and has been for some years now…the water received at the moment for Clarecastle equates only to the equivalent usage of five years ago and this is clearly not adequate to sustain current development, nev- er mind future development.”
In its submission, An Taisce stat- ed, “This very dense development is premature as neither of the pub- lic services are at present or in the near future able to supply these new OMe bbe reace
“The water is undrinkable and a new system is being proposed but will not be ready in time for this de- velopment and the sewerage is vastly overloaded. We strongly recommend that this is either delayed or with- drawn until the services are adequate or at least planned to be adequate.”
In a letter to the council, a consult- ant for the two businessmen agreed to the development of a temporary waste water treatment plant at Clare- abbey.
The letter states, “Ennis Town En- gineer, Tom Tiernan has confirmed that there has been a significant delay in procuring the new plant at Clarea- bbey, which was due to start in 2005. It is estimated that, at a minimum, the works will not be completed for at least three to five years.”