This article is from page 10 of the 2008-08-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE Department of the Environ- ment has made a late intervention in a bid to prevent a proposed €50 million retail park on the outskirts of Ennis from proceeding.
It was thought that the way was clear for the contentious €50 mil- lion planning application by Stephen Harris to proceed after a report con- firmed the disappearance of a rare protected butterfly, the Marsh Fri- WUUC-DMYape Keyed mM elomSI Ken
After two years deliberating on the application, Clare County Coun- cil is due to make a decision on the plan proposed for a 48 acre com- mercially zoned site at Skehanagh, Clarecastle.
However, the Department of the Environment has made a last ditch move to stop the retail park from proceeding after telling the council that it is recommending that “plan- ning permission not be granted”.
Already, the council has favoured the Harris proposal over a rival planning retail park for the Quin Road area which was refused last year.
However, in its new submission, the department states that the ap- parent recent loss of an important population of the Marsh Fritillary in this area, which 1s possibly linked
to the failure of mitigation measures associated with the nearby Ennis by-pass, is a matter of serious con- cern that has yet to be investigated and pursued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
The department goes on to state that the reports provided do not ad- dress adequately the serious con- cerns raised in respect of key nature conservation issues at the site.
“The proposed development is lo- cated in an area of active floodplain associated with the River Fergus and floods significantly. It is located close to the Lower River Shannon Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a flood assessment of the site and the proposed development, tak- ing into account cumulative effects of other development, is lacking.
“The proposed development will result in significant biodiversity losses in terms of wetland habitats of ecological value and invertebrate populations, including permanent losses of local extinction of the EU Habitats Directive species, the Marsh Fritillary butterfly.
“Permitting the development would be contrary to the aims of the EU Habitats and Birds Directive and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable develop- ment of the area,’ the department submission concludes.