Month: July 2014

LAST Friday’s vote against altering the zoning of 24 acres of land in Clarecastle for the construction of a crematorium was the second time in just four days that councillors voted against crematorium plans, which the council planners had been in favour of.

While planning permission for the Clarecastle crematorium and grave- yard had not yet been granted, the proposed material contravention was the last obstacle in the way of planners issuing a green light for the proposal.

At Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, councillors decided not to sell land for a crematorium in Shannon, even though the project had been granted permission by the local authority and the council had put the land up for sale earlier this year.

The land, which is located at Illaun- managh in Shannon, was purchased by Clare County Council from Shannon Development in 2002, with planning permission granted for the creation of a crematorium in March of 2009. A proposal to sell the land was opposed by Shannon Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) who claimed that the land should be kept in local authority ownership and for the future use of the people of the Shannon area.

Cllrs Flynn’s proposal not the sell the land was then opposed by his neighbouring councillor, PJ Ryan (Ind) from Sixmilebridge, who argued that a Clare businessman should not be prevented from developing a legitimate business on the site.

The vote was held to decide the situation with the councillors voting by 14 votes to 11 to retain the land in council ownership.

The land was granted planning permission in March of 2009, with both the Shannon local area members and a full meeting of Clare County Coun- cil voting to sell the 1.29 acre site to Illaunmanagh Ltd for € 140,000 later that year.

The purchase of land never took place however and in March of last year a second developer, Jim Cranwell, applied for an extension of the planning permission for the crematorium. The land was offered for sale by Clare County Council at this time with Mr Cranwell making an offer of € 140,000 – the same amount offered in 2009.

COUNCILLORS clashed during last Friday’s special meeting of Clare County Council about a proposal to allow a “mostly English owned” company to build a crematorium in Clarecastle which the local authority had recently turned down plans by “one of our own” to construct a similar facility in Shannon.

Independent councillor Ann Norton warned that Clare County Council must be seen not to “discriminate” against any proposal which could potentially bring development and jobs into the county.

His comments came in the wake of an outburst by Cllr James Breen (Ind) who questioned proposal because it was being put forward by a “mostly English” company. Cllr Breen raised concerns about other planning permissions which were not granted in the area.

“I know a gentleman living in that area [Clarecastle] who is receiving dialysis two times a week. He wanted to sell two sites on his land to pay for his treatment and he is being told that he can’t,” said Cllr Breen.

“To bring two applications [the Clarecastle and Shannon cremato- rium proposals] to the council at the same time was wrong. That, as far as I am concerned, is playing off one against the other.

“We can grant planning to a consortium which is mostly English owned and we turn down one of our own. I don’t think this is right and this council should not accept the proposal.”

A spokesperson from Clare County Council explained that both applications had come before the July meeting of the local authority because a decision to sell council land for the Shannon proposal was delayed as a result of the local elections.

Speaking on the proposed Clarecastle crematorium, Cllr Ann Norton said that Clare should be open for both local and international investment.

“I think it is important as councillors that we are not seen as discrimination against anyone who comes into Ireland and wants to invest. We have to appreciate that Ireland needs jobs and need to bring in outside businesses. As councillors, we need to show that we are open for business in Ireland regardless of whether they are local companies or outside businesses who are coming into invest,” she said.

CLARE is set to remain a crematorium free zone, as councillors from Clare County Council voted against plans to construction two separate crematoriums at Clarecastle and Shannon in the past eight days.

The latest proposal, which came before a specially convened meeting of the local authority on Friday, included plans for a € 5 million development including a crematorium and a massive graveyard capable of accommodating up to 4,000 graves.

The project, which was proposed by Fenloe Properties Ltd, came be- fore the council because the land earmarked for the development had been zoned residential and a material contravention of the Clare County Development Plan was required in order for the planning to go ahead.

Indeed, a planning application for the proposed facility was already at an advanced stage with the CEO of Clare County Council, Tom Coughlan, stating before the debate that planing would almost certainly be granted – if the councillors had voted for the re-zoning.

A large crowd packed the public gallery during the debate, which lasted for nearly an hour. A number of councillors raised issues in rela- tion to the proposed Clarecastle site including the potential for pollution reaching the local water system, the traffic management of the site and a previous planning application for 250 houses on the site.

A number of procedural issues were also raised in relation to the proposal, including the proposal being advertised in the national and not the local media, with some claiming that more locals would would have made submissions on the proposal if it had been advertised locally.

Councillors also questioned why the zoning issue was not brought before the council before the applicant entered into the planning process.

“I would have though it unusual for planning application to be made on lands that was known not to be appropriately zoned. I don’t see why this has taken place in this way,” said Cllr Michael Begley (Ind).

“I don’t understand why a decision was made on the planning before a material contravention was granted. Would it not have been more appropriate for a material controvention to be made before this go so far in the planning process.”

Before the vote Clare County Council CEO, Tom Coughlan, said that the would be no change to council policy towards local burial ground no matter what the outcome of the Clarecastle facility.

“The council’s policy regarding the development of burial grounds is community driven. Unless there is a change of mindset at community level, we don’t see this changing. There will be no bylaw passed by Clare County Council to say that people cannot intern their loved ones in their local community,” he said.

The matter was put to a vote with 11 councillors voting to grant the material contravention and 15 voting against it. There was no party whip applied to the vote and councilors from all political party’s both supported and opposed the crematorium.

QUESTIONS have been raised over the ability of the newly-formed Irish Water to deal with the county’s water supply following a serious water disruption in the Doolin and Lisdoonvarna area last week. One local man, who reported the fault to the new state water agency, said that the agency could not find Doolin on the map and had no record of a fault the area, despite dozens of reports made by local people. Irish Water took over the management of the local water system from Clare County Council in January. Residents in sections of Doolin and Lisdoonvarna reported that their water turned a dark-brown colour on Tuesday last, and became smelly and undrinkable. According to Doolin resident James Corbett, Irish Water could not locate Doolin when he contacted them. “The water was brown, dark brown, and you just couldn’t drink it. It was the same all over Doolin and Lisdoonvarna. At first I called Clare County Council, they said they had received more then 400 complains about the water but it was no longer their responsibility, it was Irish Water,” he said. “So I rang Irish Water myself and they didn’t know anything about it. They couldn’t find Doolin on the map. The person I spoke to thought it was down beside Kilkee. There was no notification that this was going to happen. “We have two newspapers and a radio station and yet the people were given no warning.” A spokesperson from Irish Water yesterday confirmed that the water supply in North Clare was now back to normal. “Maintenance work was carried out in the last number of days on the distribution network by Clare County Council and this activity may have caused discolouration on the network. “Both Doolin and Lisdoonvarna were affected by this issue which has now been resolved,” said the spokesperson.

THE dog days are coming to an end on two of Clare’s flagship seaside resorts as a new loud-speaker system, designed to prevent dog fouling, has just been installed on Lahinch and Kilkee beaches.

The new high-tech tannoy system, which was installed on both beaches yesterday afternoon, will give beach users an audio warning, asking them to obey the beach bylaws and clean up after their dogs.

The system is motion activated, with a message being played every time a member of the public, or indeed a dog, comes close to the sensor array, which is located on the promenade of both beaches.

Contrary to local speculation, the system will not include a high frequency warning that can only be heard by dogs, but will be powered off at night to prevent the warning from becoming a nuisance to local people trying to get to sleep.

The public address system is the latest part of Clare County Council efforts to change public attitudes towards littering and is the brainchild of new Irish company, Riteview.

The company have been in Lahinch and Kilkee for the past two weeks, conducting a survey of dog use on the beach and the level of dog fouling. Company founder, Aidan McDermott, yesterday predicted an 60 to 80 per cent reduction in dog fouling over the next month.

“It’s a small unit which is attached onto a poll on the promenade in Kilkee and Lahinch. When somebody walks past it triggers an audio message.

“This audio message is customisable so it can whatever the local authority want, so in Lahinch and Kilkee it will focus on cleaning up after your dog fouling.

“It’s about changing people’s attitudes and the culture generally. The idea is to make it socially unacceptable for someone to turn a blind eye as their dog leaves fouls in the beaches. It is about tacking the unsightly nature of dog foul and the health ef- fects, it can be a dangerous thing for children, especially in seaside areas when they are digging in the sand. It will also shut down at night. So if people coming home from the pub want to have some fun by triggering it off over and over again, they won’t be able to.

“We are tracking the results in Kilkee and Lahinch. We have been doing an analysis over the past number of weeks and assessed things like the number of dogs on the promenade, the peak times of the day for dog walkers and the level of dog fouling. We will be tracking the results from the Clare beaches and we would hope to see improvement of at least 60 per cent but it could be as high as 80 per cent or higher.

“This is a preventative measure. It a positive message about changing people’s behaviour and saving money, both for the dog owners themselves and the overheads for the council who won’t have as many prosecutions to follow through on.”

Riteview is an Irish start-up company based in NUI, Maynooth.

EIGHT orders for repossession of properties in Clare were ordered at a sitting of the County Registrar’s court last week.

A total of 98 cases were before the court on Friday. Some of the applications were made by financial institutions seeking possession of properties from owners who have failed to make re-payments.

Cases that were before the court for the first time were adjourned in line with the practice direction.

In one case, county registrar Pat Wallace made an order for possession of one home on which he said “a ginormous amount of money” was owed.

The man had an overall debt to Ulster Bank € 668,000. The court heard that in 2005 the man secured a mortgage of € 552,000 from First Active.

Solicitor for the bank said the man agreed to a 30-year mortgage but fell into arrears in 2008. Ulster Bank subsequently took over the business of First Active. He last made a pay- ment to the bank in 2010.

Ulster Bank sought possession of the property.

The man, who was in court, had previously left Ireland to get work. He had worked in the construction sector.

He urged the registrar to adjourn the application. He said he was going to hire a solicitor to represent him in the case.

“My business got closed here. I had to go out foreign to work,” he said.

Mr Wallace put it to the man that he owed a “ginormous amount of money”. He said this was the second set of proceedings brought by a financial institution against him.

The court heard the man’s partner and a child are living in the property.

The county registrar granted the bank’s application for possession but put a stay of three months on the order.

He also ordered the debtor to pay costs of € 2,000. Outside Ennis Courthouse afterwards, the man said he intends to appeal the decision. He said he is still looking for work abroad.

A WOMAN whose home is due to be repossessed by a financial institution has been told she will be able to stay there for Christmas.

The woman was one of a number of debtors who appeared at a sitting of the County Registrar’s court at Ennis Courthouse on Friday.

A financial institution is seeking possession of the woman’s house in Clare. Details of the application were not heard, as this was the first time the application was before the court.

County Registrar Pat Wallace asked the woman who was living in the house. The woman said she and her two children were still in the property. She said she would not be contesting the application. Mr Wallace adjourned the application to November 14.

“Do you think I’ll still be in the house for Christmas,” she asked the registrar. He told her she would.

In another case, the county registrar advised a couple seeking to adjourn an application for repossession to “stop this mumbo jumbo for legal aid”.

The couple owes € 74,795 to AIB for a mortgage in South East Clare.

The defendants, who were not in court and not legally represented, have failed to make monthly repayments.

Solicitor for the bank said attempts to make the couple re-engage with the process have proved unsuccessful.

Mr Wallace said, “I don’t know what is going on with these defendants. The money is not insurmountable.”

The court heard that couple are attempting to get legal aid and have sought an adjournment of the application.

The registrar said he believed the application was a “waste of time” as he believed legal aid would not be granted.

He told the bank’s solicitor to make contact with the debtors. He said it was time for the couple to start engaging with the process. “Tell them facts of life and that something is going to happen”.

“They have to stop this mumbo jumbo with legal aid that will probably be refused,” he added.

He directed the bank to make contact with the debtors. He adjourned the application to November.

MORE than 16 families in the Cloughaninchy area of Quilty face an anxious wait this winter as it is now seems virtually certain that no fresh flood defenses will be in place before next year.

Residents of the area, which bore the brunt of severe storms in January and February of this year, face an anxious winter with little protection from a similar storm or high tide event. According to local councillor Michael Hillery (FF), Clare County Council have had its hands tied on this issue – as central government have yet to respond to a funding request following St Bridget’s Day Storm last February.

“There is no firm date for works to start in the Quilty, Tromera and Cloughaninchy coastline.

“We are currently awaiting a response from central government in relation to the February storm damage assessment and coastline protection works. When this response is received we will be able to progress with a fully resourced programme of coastline repair work for the entire county,” said a council spokesperson last week.

According to Cllr Hillery, people in the area are already starting to get nervous ahead of possible storms this winter.

“The council has put in a request but the Government has not responded so money can’t be allocated and work can’t be done. The council’s hands are tied, there is nothing they can do until they get some response from government,” he said.

“The residents are very concerned, especially for their homes, but the local roads and farms were also badly effected last year. It’s already too late, nothing will happen this year.

“The whole area are concerned but especially the residents of Cloughaninchy. These people are facing next winter with nothing in place to protect them if something happens again this year.

“We had a number of Ministers down here and they all made promises. It really was just a PR visit and nothing has actually happened.”

COUNCILLORS in Ennis have called on the Minister for Transport to release funds for the development of a € 250,000 roundabout on the Tulla Road in Ennis.

Clare County Council is proposing to develop a roundabout near Oakleigh Woods and Cappahard to alleviate traffic issues in the area.

Residents have long campaigned for the measures to improve safety on the road.

At the July meeting of the Ennis Municipal District Committee (MDC), councillors agreed to write to the Minister for Transport to see if funds are available for the project.

The discussion stemmed from a motion tabled by Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF). Cllr Colleran Molloy wants the council to address the need for “additional signs for Ennis town centre on the northern part of the motorway at the current Tulla / Scariff exit”.

She is also seeking brown exit signs at the current Quin exit for Quin Abbey and Knappogue Castle.

In his reply, Eamon O’Dea, Senior Executive Engineer, stated, “Junction 13 on the 18 is not intended as a primary access road to Ennis and provides a means of direct access at R352.”

He continues, “I would not be recommending the inclusion of Ennis on the signs at junction 13 until the Cappahard Roundabout is constructed.”

Mr O’Dea told the meeting that any motorway signs encouraging traffic to access the town centre via the Tulla Road would put “severe pressure” on the route.

Mayor of Ennis MDC, Johnny Flynn (FG) proposed the committee write to the minister’s office to seek funds for the roundabout.

Cllr James Breen (Ind) said the roundabout is badly needed. Cllr Pat Daly (FF) described the project as “very important”.

Cllr Ann Norton (Ind) said there are a lot of families living in the area. She called on the committee to write a strongly worded letter to the minister.

In May, Director of Service, Ger Dollard told a meeting of the former Ennis Town Council that funding for the roundabout project is unlikely to be available in the short to medium term.

THE Government has been accused of treating rural Clare like a game of Jenga – and dismantling it one block at a time.

The comment was made by former Fine Gael councillor Ian Lynch (IND), while speaking on a motion regarding possible changes to the way in which social welfare is paid, which could put the future of dozen of Clare post offices in jeopardy.

The motion, which was put forward by Cllr Bill Chambers (FF), is seeking to prevent the Government from passing the new Social Welfare and Pensions Bill, which, if adopted, would remove An Post as the designated payment services provider for Social Welfare benefits.

“If this bill goes through Dáil Éireann, something like 500 post offices will be under threat and I would like to think that that won’t happen,” said Cllr Chambers.

Speaking on the motion Cllr Lynch told the Government to “back off” and stop threatening rural services.

“They are playing a game of Jenga with rural Ireland. They’re pulling out the blocks one by one and it’s time we told the Government to back off,” said the former Mayor of Kilrush.

The motions comes as discussion are ongoing about the future of the Cratloe Post Office with a number of other Clare post offices understood to be under threat.

“They are trying to close down a post office in our area at the moment. It will have a devastating effects on our community,” said Cllr PJ Ryan (Ind).

“It seem that someone up in Dublin just makes a decision to close down a post office and does not have any consideration with the local community at all.”

The future of Cratloe Post Offices is set to be decided in the coming weeks. A local group made a submission to an post 10 days ago and are awaiting a response from the company.