This article is from page 4 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 4 JPG
GALWAY developer, Stephen Harris who purchased a flood plain for €18 million may be forced to cut his loss- es as there is no government funding for a flood relief scheme which would allow him proceed with his plans to develop a retail park on the land.
As this photograph provided by Clare County Council shows, much of the proposed 48-acre site has
reently been under water and Ennis Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said that there is no money to implement a €14 million flood relief scheme for the area.
Planning permission for the €50 million retail park development was refused by Clare County Council last week because of the flood risk and the lack of sewage infrastructure in the area.
Mr Harris purchased the lands from
Clarecastle man, JJ McCabe in 2006 as the 48-acre site was zoned com- mercial in the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.
However, the sewage issue relating to the site may not be resolved until 2012 and a resolution to the flooding may not be found until much later as it is dependent on the development of the €14 million flood relief scheme.
Prospects of a short to medium- term solution are also bleak with Mr
Tiernan stating that “given the cli- mate we’re in and the approach of government to the funding of new projects, it will be very difficult to find huge support for such a project and it is very difficult to feel positive about it.”
Asked if this would be the case if the flood relief scheme was given 1m- mediate approval, Mr Tiernan said it would take three to four years before it could be completed. The €14 mil- lion project would create a situation where the River Fergus would drain out to sea more effectively and not as much of the flood plain would be re- quired for flood water.
A number of issues have yet to be resolved including environment, le- gal and flooding considerations.
Mr Tiernan said that it may be suitable for a Special Contribution Scheme whereby developers would fund the scheme.
In a late submission to the council, Mr Harris’s consultants appeared to be under the misapprehension that the local authority was proceeding with the flood relief works.
The submission stated that while the site constitutes part of the exist- ing floodplain of the River Fergus, the proposed flood alleviation works being undertaken in Ennis and the lower catchment of the Fergus would render the land “superfluous to flood storage requirements.”