This article is from page 12 of the 2008-04-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
CLARE County Council has disre- garded the objections of the Sister of Mercy and other Lahinch residents and granted planning permission for a €25 million housing development in the seaside resort.
Last year, Brendan O’Doherty, Patrick Montgomery, Paul Mont- gomery and John McInerney lodged plans to develop 114 residential units with a number of them to be holiday homes. The development was on a
9.5 acre site on Station Road.
Their application attracted wide- spread opposition in Lahinch. The nearby Sisters of Mercy described the plan as a “concrete jungle” pro- posal.
The nuns asked the council “to look at this development in light of the se- rious issues of anti-social behaviour on Station Road and the fact that the services to Lahinch, including sew- age, water supply and electricity, are seriously over-stretched.
In her oleyassiry leven Marie
O’Donoghue reflected much _ local sentiment when she claimed that “the character of the village is destroyed by the construction of too many holi- day homes which, in turn, is a threat to the tourism on which the village ele ores ake hae
Ms O’Donoghue quoted figures from the Census showing that the population of Lahinch dropped by 2.9 per cent between 2002 and 2006.
Michael and Maria Vaughan of Vaughan Lodge Hotel also expressed their opposition against the plan.
However, the proposed develop- ment site was zoned “residential” meaning it was always going to be difficult for the objectors to prevent the development from going ahead.
Imposing 44 conditions attached to the permission, the council has re- duced the number of residential units to 96, including 28 four bedroom homes and 21 two bedroom units.
As part of its continuing policy not to grant permission to any holiday homes, the council has placed as a condition that the homes be used as
the principal place of residence of the home-owners and that the condi- tion be included in the sales agree- ment of each dwelling.
As part of the permission, the devel- Opers are required to pay the council almost €1 million in developer con- tributions.
However, it 1s likely that the deci- sion will be appealed to An Bord Pleanala
A final decision will be made on the proposal before the end of the year.