This article is from page 26 of the 2011-12-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
CLARE Labour TD Michael McNamara is to intervene in the ongoing difficulty surrounding Blakes Corner in Ennistymon and force the publication of a report on the controvertial site commissioned by Clare County Council earlier this year.
The Southgate Report was commissioned by Clare County Council earlier this year but, despite the protests of some councillors in the north Clare area, it was decided not to publish the finding of the report earlier this year.
Deputy McNamara yesterday con- firmed that he will make contact with the Minister of the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), and ask him to put pressure on Clare County Council to publish the report.
“Clare County Council has spent € 15,000 on a report on Blakes Corner and have decided not to publish this report. I find that hard to believe,” said Deputy McNamara.
“Clearly these two buildings cannot continue to stand in their current form if Ennistymon and Lahinch are going to continue to prosper. I would call on the local councillors to stop sticking their head in the sand and deal with this situation – that is what they were elected to do.”
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan (FG), last week announced that plans to demolish and rebuild the historic buildings at Blakes Corner was “contrary to the thrust” of the 2000 Planning Act and would “require strong justification” before it could take place.
This announcement was welcomed by the Save Ennistymon’s Heritage group who said that they welcomed the ministers intervention.
“We urge Clare County Council to examine with Save Ennistymon’s Heritage the various options to help the occasional traffic chaos in Ennistymon,” said Denis Vaughan of the Save Ennistymon’s Heritage Group. It is unlikely that the report will be published at the next north Clare area meeting, which takes place in Ennistymon next Monday.
“The report was ready for the last area meeting and it was decided that it wouldn’t be released into the public domain until the planning process commences – we’re working towards this at present but the planning process won’t commence this side of Christmas,” said Tom Tiernan, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council.