This article is from page 17 of the 2013-09-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
A NORTH Clare councillor has challenged Clare County Council to release all cor respondence with has taken place between the local authority and the National Roads Authority (NRA) in relation to Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon.
Lahinch councillor Bill Slatter y (FG) yesterday submitted a motion concerning the procedure used for de-listing buildings in Clare. Councillors are prohibited from submit- ting motion on local issues, but Cllr Slattery used his motion on de-listing to bring up the controversial buildings at Blake’s Corner – which are both listed structures.
A joint plan between Clare County Council and the NRA to develop the junction has been stalled for a number of years because no funding is available to complete an Envi ronmental Impact Statement (EIS) – even though the local authority has already invested a sizable about of money to purchase the buildings.
Councillor Slattery was ruled as being out-of-order when he raised the issue of Blake’s Corner but argued that he only raised it because the council has not responded to requests for information made at the Ennistymon area meetings, where local issues can be raised.
“This is no longer a North Clare issue, it is a Clare issue, it is a national issue. Why did the council, for some reason, spent the money [on buying the buildings at Blake’s Corner] without having them checked out and having them de- listed? ” he asked.
“We have brought this up for the past two years at the local area meeting and we are getting no responses from the council and no response from the NRA. We want to know what is going on with this development.”
Cllr Slattery was suppor ted by fellow North Clare councillor Michael Kelly (FF).
“The difficulty is huge. We are putting huge investment into tourism and this is being stifled. This is going on for more than 20 year, it has been discussed and analysed out of existance,” he said.
County Engineer Tom Tiernan said he would provide Cllr Slattery with the information he asked for if it was in his possession and of it was appropriate to do so.
“At the end of the day the primary interest is to resolve the traffic problem at that junction. We are doing everything we can to move this forward. The next step is to forward a planning application to an mBord Pleanála and get an EIS completed,” he said.