This article is from page 6 of the 2008-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
re- vealed that the county council and Ennis Town Council refused permis- sion for a total of 800 homes in the
eastern and northern environs of En- nis because the town’s sewage system is operating beyond full capacity.
A new €7/5 million treatment plant at Clareabbey is not expected to come on stream until 2012 — the plant got planning permission four years ago and the council has already paid out €7 million to three landowners for the site.
An Environmental Impact State- ment into the scheme was published at the end of 2002 warned that if noth- ing was done, “the existing problems will be exacerbated over the next few years as increasing demands are put
on the drainage system and treated plants due to expanded environ- ment”.
In relation to the latest planning application by Al Callanan — which faced strong local opposition — the council stated that while the princi- ple of housing on the site would be suitable, the application was prema- ture pending the construction and commissioning of the new Clareab- bey plant.
The Environmental Protection Agency told the council in April that it was informed by the local authority that the current demands on the sys-
tem is 26,000 houses and the treat- ment capacity of the Clonroadmore plant is 17,000.
The EPA stated, “The plant is therefore already operating above its design treatment capacity and would not be capable of accommodating this development.”
The council also refused planning due to deficiencies in the public water supply and the period within which these constraints would be reason- ably expected to cease. The council also ruled that it would have signifi- cant negative effects on the existing ecology and hydrology of the site.