This article is from page 7 of the 2007-08-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
A PROTECTED butterfly is the fo- cus of a battle between two rival developers vying to secure planning permission for the first major retail park on the outskirts of Ennis.
Currently, Clare County Council is evaluating a proposal by Stephen Harris to construct a €50 million retail park adjacent to the Ennis by- ee
However, consultants for develop- ers of a rival proposal, Sean Lyne and Noel Connellan are claiming that if a transfer site for the protected butterfly, the Marsh Fritillary within the proposed Harris park was meas- ured, “it is difficult to see how the scheme could be considered viable or feasible”.
As part of the works for the €205 million Ennis bypass scheme, popu- lations of the butterfly protected un- der the EU Habitats Directive were transferred from the site of the Ennis bypass to the lands proposed for the Harris retail park.
However, consultants for Lyne and Connellan have told Clare County Council that transferring the but- terfly population “would render the commercial profile of the (Harris) site questionable”’.
Last month, the council refused planning permission for the Lyne-
Connellan retail park development after declaring that the Harris plan is the preferred retail park proposal.
In relation to the Harris plan, the council has stated, however, that “’se- rious concerns remain about the loss of an important area of wetland in addition to the protected Annex One Species, the Marsh Fritillary and other rare species”.
Now, in response, Mr Harris’s con- sultants have told the council that “‘it still has not been possible to obtain conclusive evidence that the site of the proposed development was the site of translocation of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly or any specific de- tails regarding the timing or success of any translocation that may have been completed”.
The new submission lodged states that site surveys have taken place on three occasions and “the presence of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly has not been established on the site”’.
The submission states, “There is a possibility that the butterfly has ceased to colonise this area, which is not uncommon for this particular species.
The Harris retail site also includes an area of fen and the submission states that the fen “is the most sensi- tive habitat on the site, but it is rela- tively small and not directly linked to any other habitats of significance”.