This article is from page 14 of the 2008-07-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE Killaloe Diocesan Trust has instituted legal proceedings against two builders over their alleged fail- ure to complete the €554,000 pur- chase of Doonbeg National School from the diocese.
At Ennis Circuit Court this week proceedings taken by the Killaloe Diocesan Trust and Doonbeg priest, Fr Joe Haugh against developers Ni- all Cunningham and Brian McGoo- ey over the pair’s alleged failure to complete the purchase of the school are to be heard.
According to a claim lodged with Ennis Circuit Court by the diocesan trust, Cunningham and McGooey entered into a contract with the trust and Fr Haugh to purchase Doonbeg National School for €554,000. It states, “The closing date for the sale has passed.”
The claim states that the diocese has constructed another school in the village and have borrowed on the strength of receiving the funds out of the proposed sale of the Doonbeg National School site.
It continues, ““They are now expe- riencing considerable hardship as a result of the failure of the defendants to honour their obligations under the rie
Recently Cunningham and McCoo- ey were granted planning permission to construct 75 homes in Doonbeg.
The two are seeking to take advan-
tage of the need for tourist accom- modation brought about by the €150 million Doonbeg golf resort. However, as part of the conditions of planning, the council has stated that all the homes be used as the
principal place of residence.
This has prompted the developers to appeal the condition to An Bord Pleanala, stating that the condition is “onerous and that at least a propor- tion of the dwellings should be made
available for use as holiday homes”. The developers argue that the con- dition is onerous “in view of the na- ture, scale and design of the proposed development and the nature of the existing tourism product of Doon-
beg, which is currently characterised and restricted by a distinct shortfall in holiday home and tourism accom- modation”.
The developers state that the 1mpo- sition of the condition “is not in com- pliance with the proper planning and development of the area”.
The appeal states, “It 1s acknowl- edged that there are concerns regard- ing the provision of further holiday homes in Doonbeg potentially result- ing in the village becoming season- ally quite.
“However, it is argued that owing to the quality of the proposed scheme, it is unlikely that these houses will be purchased by people who only wish to reside in the area for a small portion of the year, but in contrast these houses are suitable to cater for people who will reside in them on a more continuous basis, eg retirement homes. This means that there will be a high rate of occupancy in the de- velopment throughout the year with resulting benefit s for the economy of the settlement.
The appeal also cites a policy of the West Clare Local Area Plan, which states that visitor accommodation will be encouraged to locate within settlements, ie such as Doonbeg.
A decision is due on the appeal later this year.