This article is from page 8 of the 2014-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
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.