This article is from page 2 of the 2008-08-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
CLARE County Council is facing a financial crisis after it emerged that funding for essential works across the county has not materialised.
In the first real sign of the eco- nomic downturn hitting local author- ity finances, figures for the first six months of the year show that Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council received a paltry €739,000 in developer contributions for new developments — a 74 per cent drop on the €2.9 million received during the first half of 2007.
Further underlining the slowdown
in the construction industry, the €739,000 received for the first six months is in contrast to the €10.7 million the councils received in de- veloper contributions for the whole of last year.
It also falls far short of the €21 million the council was hoping to generate in its new developer contri- bution scheme this year. Councillors have failed to adopt the draft scheme as they believe that the new charges AuomKOlOm opted eb
The monies from the developer contribution scheme are needed to part-fund council infrastructure throughout the county, including the
much needed €75 million sewage treatment plant in Ennis where the council have placed an embargo on all new developments due to inad- equate sewage infrastructure.
Leader of the Fianna Fail group, Cllr PJ Kelly said that the council is facing “a crisis of unbelievable pro- joe) male) ae
“There is ©260 million in approved capital projects for Clare, but the council has only money for half that amount,” he said.
“The large drop in contributions doesn’t surprise me. It 1s caused by the economic downturn and the dis- illusionment that people have with
planning in Clare.”
Mayor of Clare, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) said, “It 1s a dra- matic drop and reflects the economic downturn in the county and it will present challenges to the council as it prepares its budget for 2009.”
Cllr Brian Meaney (Green Party) said, “The collapse in developer contributions has been dramatic and represents a serious challenge to the council. Combined with the way cen- tral government treats the funding of local government, it’s clear that tough decisions will have to be made and the council will have to study how it funds non-core items.”