This article is from page 8 of the 2008-05-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
AN Ennis man sought more than €500,000 for his objection against a €40 million residential development to be withdrawn.
Last week, An Bord Pleandala re- fused planning permission to Joe Mc- Namara to develop 147 homes on the Golf Links Road. The appeals board upheld the appeal by John Madden of Glencairn House, Hermitage, against Clare County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the proposal.
However, in documentation now released by An Bord Pleanala, it has emerged that Mr Madden sought €550,000 for himself to construct a flood defence system on his lands near the development site and a sepa-
rate payment of €50,000 for Caher- calla Community Hospice to with- draw his appeal.
A series of eight meetings were held between the two sides – all at the instigation of the developers – but no money was handed over and, as a result, the appeal was not withdrawn. Mr Madden stated last week that he felt vindicated it had been upheld.
In a letter to the board on behalf of the developers, Joe McNamara and Paul O’Brien, solicitors McMahon O’Brien and Downes stated that the demand for €550,000 for the with- drawal of the appeal was the second time that such a demand was made by Mr Madden.
They claimed he sought €170,000 for the withdrawal of an objection against a previous housing applica-
tion on the same site by the same developers.
The legal firm said this was to be used to construct a barrier against flooding if planning was obtained, but if planning was not obtained, the money was to be retained personally by Mr Madden.
In relation to the €50,000 sought for Cahercalla Hospice, the legal firm states, “The seeking to justify a pay- ment request for a hospice because of the appellant’s admiration of the Trojan work they do there is another example of the appellant’s misguided purpose of the planning process. It is not there to facilitate the extraction of funds from developers to make payments to charities.”
The documentation also shows that Ennis builder, Liam O’Doherty
agreed to purchase the lands from McNamara and O’Brien in 2006 sub- ject to planning.
A letter from John Casey & Co so- licitors shows that Mr O’Doherty met with Mr Madden where he confirmed the requirement of a €585,000 pay- ment to him and a €50,000 to Caher- calla hospice.
The submissions by the developers was aimed at having Mr Madden’s appeal dismissed on the grounds that the appeal was being brought solely for the purpose of securing the pay- ment of money and gifts – a claim firmly rejected by Mr Madden.
However, the appeals board judged the appeal on its merits and found in favour of Mr Madden, though none of the reasons to refuse planning re- lated to flooding.