This article is from page 10 of the 2006-03-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
CLARE County Council has expressed serious concern over contentious plans for a €25 million housing development in Kilkee, because they don’t include enough houses.
The council has told developers Paddy Madden, Barry Madden and Jerry O’ Sullivan that the 60 homes planned for Dough, Kilkee aren’t enough. There must be greater density before their proposal gets the green light.
Council Planners have pointed to a policy that requires developers to make maximum use of land in an appropriate manner, in order to encourage a more sustainable pattern of development.
Twenty-five units per hectare is the minimum allowed.
The Dough plan had already run into local opposition. One local woman, Martha McGreen, warned the council that Kilkee was “losing the very charm that had made it so popular over the years”.
The town was losing its identity, she claimed.
She questioned how locals could afford to buy in Kilkee, or build there with the current zoning restrictions.
Independent town councillor, Dr Tom Nolan, has raised similar concerns and has called for developers to be obliged to provide social and affordable housing in the area.
“The sad truth is that local people can and never will be able to live in Kilkee unless developers are compelled to provide social and affordable housing in the area.
“No infrastructure, either social or essential, has been provided for the surge of holiday homes in Kilkee and it is not sustainable. Why doesn’t someone shout stop?”
Apart from the housing density of the Dough proposal, the council states that it has serious concerns for pedestrian safety and the piecemeal approach to the overall development of the land.
“Accordingly, the council is not favourably disposed to grant permission as it stands.”
However, planners add that the “council may be favourably disposed towards an overall comprehensive development of the entire lands zoned for residential housing”.
The applicants have six months in which to respond to the council’s request for further information.