This article is from page 50 of the 2007-11-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 50 JPG
CLARE County Council has ex- pressed “a number of very serious concerns” over plans for a €25 mil- lion housing development in south east Clare.
Earlier this year, Greenband Invest- ments lodged plans with the council for a 103 housing development ex- tension to what is already in place at Westbury, Athlunkard near the Clare-Limerick border.
The proposal has attracted a large number of objections from local
residents and now the council has re- sponded to the residents’ concerns.
In a request for a large raft of new information on the plan, the coun- cil has requested that revised plans be submitted, but, in a move that will disappoint local residents, has pointed out that the density of the development is not high enough and that additional homes will need to be included.
However, the council has also re- quested that the developers submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the further informa-
tion required.
In its request, the council states that it “has a number of very serious concerns in relation to the proposed development and it not favourably disposed to the development as pro- posed.
‘The concerns of the council relate to the design and layout of the devel- opment as proposed, the lack of mix of housing types and design, the ef- fect the proposed development will have on traffic safety at this location, the residential amenities of existing residents and the lack of provision of
community facilities and open spac- es in the existing Westbury estate.”
The council goes on: “The con- cerns arise in particular to the lack of community facilities to provide for the number of existing and proposed OM CAUDDANSAc MAUI ODEO MOO CoMon ie: Nome
The council has ordered a revised layout providing for a better sense of place and revised housing designs incorporating a “much better’ mix of housing types and styles.
“You are advised that due to the scale and nature of existing permit- ted development within the West-
bury estate, no further large scale de- velopment can be permitted without the submission of a master plan to provide for the comprehensive devel- opment of the entire Westbury estate to provide for appropriate land uses, including residential uses, public Open spaces, community facilities, services and road layouts.”
The developers have also been told to submit a Traffic Impact Statement (TIS).
A decision from the council on the development is not now expected un- til sometime next year.