This article is from page 22 of the 2008-05-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
CLARE County Council and Ennis Town Council have called a halt to the further expansion of Ennis be- cause the town’s public infrastruc- ture has reached breaking point.
Over the past week, the two local authorities have refused planning permission to three big residential developments valued at a total of €200 million.
As a result, the council will miss out on millions of euro in develop- ment contributions that would have been earmarked for essential capital
HOUSER PMU LCLAUD Ess
In one case, Clare County Coun- cil refused planning permission to Crystal Partners for 471 homes at Gaurus, while Ennis Town Council refused planning for 226 homes at Knockaderry, Tulla Road, and plan- ning for 97 homes on the Galway Road was refused to Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd.
The primary reason for the refus- als was the inadequacy of the town’s sewage treatment works to accom- modate the developments with a new plant not expected to become operational for another four years.
The planner’s report into the Crys- tal Partners’ application stated that “substantial capital investment is required to upgrade the Clonroad- more treatment plant to facilitate any large-scale residential develop- ments progressing in the catchment. Without these works being finalised, constructed and commissioned, all new large-scale development in the catchment would be premature”’.
In a separate report, Ennis Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan pointed out that “it would be inappropriate to approve any further significant de- velopments which would be depend-
ent on the Clonroadmore plant”.
The first signs of a halt to develop- ment in Ennis came last year when the council only granted permission for a portion of the homes planned by Stephen Finn Properties on the SLUUIE WW Cor-rer
In the medium term, the ban on large-scale developments in Ennis will have an impact on the supply of |nCeyesterme-UeCeMeceleDCCMBKcneDLMBNOME-MNSICOOU0UE cant increase in house prices.
However, the development of homes in the environs of Clarecas- tle are expected to continue as Crys- tal Partners are to provide a sewage
treatment plant that will serve the first stage of a 500 house develop- ment in the area.
The development ban in the En- nis area follows the Health Service Executive calling on the council to give more scrutiny to planning ap- plications because of inadequacy of the Clonroadmore treatment plant.
The Health Service Executive made the call after raw sewage was pumped into the River Fergus from the treatment plant, on the grounds that it “represents a serious public risk and should be treated with the greatest urgency’.