Month: July 2006

SHANNON Development last year spent in excess of a half a million euro in maintaining vacant unoccupied factory sites around Clare.

In response to a Dáil question from Fine Gael deputy, Pat Breen, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Michael Martin said that Shannon Development last year spent €436,152 on maintaining vacant sites in the Shannon Free Zone and Smithstown.

Minister Martin said that €104,153 was spent on maintaining other sites in Clare, giving an overall total of €540,305

“The description maintenance covers landscaping, public lighting, security, staff costs and general building maintenance. Shannon Development does not break down its maintenance expenditure figures between vacant property and occupied property, given the ongoing change to that status as a result of new lettings etc.,” he said

The spend on maintaining the factory sites comes against the background of 20 new jobs being created at Shannon Development’s €11 million Information Age Park, where there is currently 8,500 sq ft available for letting in three units of large floor office space suitable for second stage incubation projects.

Deputy Pat Breen said, “It is important for the public to know how their money was being spent in relation to areas of industrial policy. This is particularly so in Clare, which has so many areas suffering from an inadequate jobs policy. I am disappointed that there is no breakdown of the figures for buildings let and unoccupied properties It is important for the public to know that there are not industrial units lying vacant for years and incurring unacceptable maintenance costs as has occurred in other parts of the country with the IDA.”

In a related property issue, the accounts for Shannon Development show that it has entered a joint venture agreement with Westpark Shannon Ltd, where in return for 20 acres of land in the development of Westpark, Shannon Free Zone, the company acquired a percentage return on the income which will accrue from the development. The 2005 annual report states: “The cost of the joint venture investment has been determined at €2.286 million which is the estimated market value of the land at the date of the investment.”

A DEVELOPER who is building houses in Ennistymon has been charged with failing to comply with the requirements of an enforcement notice served by Clare County Council.

Solicitor for the council, Lisa Walsh told Miltown Malbay District Court that a warning notice was served on Ballinair Construction, of Moughna, Miltown Malbay, and this was followed by an enforcement notice, on March 23, 2006.

She said the company was given until April 14 to comply with the notice.

An officer from the council inspected the site on May 5.

“All items included in the enforcement notice were not complied with. . . Nothing at all,” said the solicitor.

She said the defendant was a developer and the case related to the development of eight town houses on the Ennis Road in Ennistymon.

She told Judge Joseph Mangan the main problem related to a car park space and footpath and that the council received one complaint in relation to the matter. Judge Mangan asked were the houses occupied.

“I believe so. Most of them are occupied. They are rented out,” replied Ms Walsh.

Judge Mangan said, “I will adjourn to September. In September I will make a determination on jurisdiction, and see if this is too serious to be dealt with in the District Court or if it should be sent forward to the Circuit Court.”

He told John Vaughan, a director of the company, who was in court, that he was advising him “in the strongest terms” to get a solicitor.

Mr Vaughan told the judge that Ballinair had not traded in the past 18 months and he now works for somebody else. “There isn’t a penny left,” said Mr Vaughan.

CAMPAIGNERS will have to wait another week to discover if they will be granted leave of appeal to halt the erection of an 80 foot ESB telecommunications mast in Ennis.

The case was expected to be heard yesterday (Monday) in the High Court but has now been adjourned until Monday, July 31. The adjournment was sought by An Bord Pleanála who requested more time to prepare an affidavit. Campaigners are now hopeful that the case will be heard on July 31, before the courts break for summer recess. Locals who have mounted the potentially expensive legal battle are disappointed with the further delay. Campaigner Michael O’Doherty says residents are frustrated, but are still confident of a successful outcome.

“We were hoping that it would go ahead today, but An Bord Pleanála have requested more time to prepare an affidavit. People are waiting for the case to be heard and expected it to go ahead today.

Local people are anxious and we are anxious, but we would still very confident that we have a good case.

“This is the second time the case has been adjourned in the High Court. It was originally to be heard on July 5, but was adjourned at the request of the ESB. Residents agreed to the request on the condition no work was to be carried out on the site of the ESB substation adjacent to Mangan’s Cash and Carry.

Residents are opposing the decision on the grounds that the proposed site was not chosen as a site of last resort; the ESB did not provide the necessary notification of the development within the required time frame and that An Bord Pleanála did not request additional information on additional sites looked at by the ESB.

FIREFIGHTERS battled for hours last night with flames that engulfed hundreds of acres of mountain and could be seen more than 20 miles away.

The blaze started in an area close to the Hand in Miltown Malbay, on a hill known locally as Mary Walsh’s Mountain.

It began some time in the afternoon and by 5pm, four units of the brigade as well as back up four wheel drive vehicles were on the scene to get to grips with the inferno.

It was three hours before the massive blaze was brought under control and crews worked into the night in a damping down operation.

A spokesman for the fire control centre said that the fierce blaze was visible as far away as the motorway at Dromoland and residents of Kilshanny could clearly see the flames.

Firefighters said that the very dry weather and heat provided ideal conditions for the mountain scrub to ignite.

One eyewitness reported seeing a massive plume of smoke emerging from the hills to the south east of Miltown Malbay.

“We first noticed it around 4 o’clock,” said the local business person.

“There was so much smoke that it just looked like a giant cloud and we didn’t even realise that it was a fire until a neighbour, who lives out by the Hand, called up to see it.

“It didn’t get too close to us thankfully as a wind blew up and drove the flames in a westerly direction.”

Meanwhile, as temperatures soared into the high twenties in Clare yesterday, householders with their own wells were getting hot under the collar.

Suppliers of household water pumps were reporting record number of calls from homeowners who thought their pumps were malfunctioning.

“They think that the pump has broken down, but in fact, the well has run dry.

“Springs that never dried up before have dried up this week”, a spokeswoman for an east Clare pump contractor told The Clare People .

Temperatures yesterday were the hottest recorded so far this year and the dry spell is set to continue until Wednesday, when there may be thunder storms and rain.

The weekend promises to be cooler, with showers.

CLARE’S Chief Fire Officer has told a court that fire and safety at an Ennis apartment complex was inadequate, when an inspection took place last year.

Adrian Kelly was giving evidence in the case of eight people, charged under the Fire Services Act, arising out of an inspection of an apartment complex in Ennis last year.

Before Ennis District Court were Noel Connellan, Station Road, Ennis; Eleanor Brody, Park Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin; Desmond Houlihan, c/o Desmond Houlihan, Salthouse Lane, Ennis; De Lard Homes Ltd, Station Road, Ennis; Patrick Vaughan, Station Road, Ennis; Patrick and Catherine Beaty, Montree, Athlone, Co Westmeath; Mary Thyne, Merchant’s Square, Ennis; and Priorstown Ltd, Station Road, Ennis.

They are accused of failing to take all reasonable measures to guard against the outbreak of fire on the premises.

Solicitor for Clare County Council, Isobel O’Dea, said the case related to a fire at an apartment complex at Merchant’s Square, Ennis, on May 19, 2005.

Mr Kelly said the fire brigade was called to a fire on the first floor of the apartment complex. The fire was dealt with and he later inspected the building.

He told the court that “fire and safety seemed to be inadequate,” adding that the main issue was that one exit had been locked.

Mr Kelly said the property was inspected again in June of this year, adding, “all deficiencies had been sorted out. All was up to scratch again.”

The fire officer pointed out that there were 20 apartments in the block. The entrance was located on the ground floor and the apartments were located on the first and second floors.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he was declining jurisdiction in the case and adjourned it for two months, for preparation of the Book of Evidence.

MEMBERS of the South Galway Fianna Fail Comhairle Cheantair and the Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment group (GRACE) have met with Environment and Heritage Minister Dick Roche over the inadequate sewage system in Gort.

The group learned that the sewerage plant is about to be repaired. However, the repairs may not be sufficient for the volume of development in the area.

They were also informed that the town is thirteenth on a list for water system upgrading. The group suggested that, in the short term, the council replace pipes on the Ennis and Galway roads and invest in the old water plant until a new system be put in place.

The minister has asked his department to examine the points raised and will respond in due course.

On Thursday, council representatives met with the Lough Cultra Farmers Action Group and GRACE in advance of submitting an environmental impact study where the farmers campaigned against current council plans to raise water levels in the town.

The council representatives are currently looking into the alternative plan proposed by the group.

THE YEAR 2005 saw a jump of almost one third in the number of cases taken against employers in the Equality Tribunal.

And with employment equality complaints up by 35 per cent, gender and race are the main grounds for action.

In her report for 2005, the Director of the Equality Tribunal, Melanie Pine, says that last year 1,669 people claimed to the tribunal that they had been discriminated against in relation to work, pensions or access to goods and services. This was a record number of individual claimants, more than 29 per cent higher than the previous peak in 2002 and more than ten times the number of claimants in 2000.

The total number of cases rose from 483 in 2004 to 631, a rise of 31 per cent. Substantial increases were recorded in the percentage of cases claiming discrimination on grounds of gender (66 per cent), race (61 per cent) and disability (71 per cent). However, discrimination on the age grounds fell by 10 per cent.

THE Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh this week admitted that the presence of a 13-member Traveller family is causing difficulties to neighbours living adjacent to his Ennis residence.

Almost two months ago, the Molloy family moved onto the lawn of Dr Walsh’s Westbourne residence without the permission of Dr Walsh and defied his request to leave the property.

Speaking to The Clare People , Dr Walsh said, “I am still anxious that the family find alternative accommodation and I have been talking to Clare County Council on the issue, though nothing is finalised.

“It is not clear if the family are going back to the UK or staying here in Ennis.”

Dr Walsh admitted that the situation was causing difficulties to neighbours living in the Bishop’s Court estate and confirmed that he had met with householders from the estate.

He said, “I have spoken and met with some of the neighbours.”

Asked what difficulties the Molloys were causing, Dr Walsh said, “A lot of it has to do with the Traveller children trespassing on neighbours’ property.”

Dr Walsh said that he was hoping for an early resolution to the issue.

The Molloys had stayed at the Bishop’s residence for a number of months in the late 1990s and set up camp last May without permission from the Bishop while he was away.

They moved to the UK after abandoning a house at Gordon Drive, which they purchased from the council through the shared ownership scheme. The house remains unoccupied.

Speaking at the site yesterday, Rosie Molloy admitted that the children had caused difficulties for the neighbours by trespassing on their property, but this had stopped over the past couple of days. She said that the family would not be moving back into the home at Gordon Drive. She said, “We would have no peace there.”

Ms Molloy said that there were vacancies at the council’s emergency site on the Quin Road and, asked if they would move there, Ms Molloy said, “I don’t know. We would prefer here than there.”

A PLANNING row centering on the home of one of Clare’s best-known builders, Seamus Lynch, is to be heard by An Bord Pleanala.

The multimillionaire’s home includes a four-storey round tower with a copper roof metres away from the main home.

It is located on the prestigious Showgrounds Road overlooking the Cahercalla area in Ennis with panoramic views of the wider area.

Last year, Mr Lynch sought planning retention for additions to the home.

Despite opposition from residents in the Willsgrove estate, he was granted permission for everything but a septic tanks

Among their grievances, the residents are angry at the tower being lit up at night.

In a submission to the council, Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Tom Reynolds said, “The whole tower and back of the site is lit up like a national monument.”

Dr Reynolds and other Willsgrove residents have appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, stating, “We would like to emphasise that this whole unfortunate affair has been hugely distressing to us and has put a considerable strain on our faith in the local planning authority.

“The fact that the issue of significantly elevated land on an already elevated site, atop a steep hill, behind a residential estate has not even been addressed by the relevant planning authority, is almost unbelievable to us. . . . It would appear that those of us who have been negatively impacted by the development have been unable to enjoy the same level of consideration by the statutory authority as the developer, who constructed a number of things that seriously compromise the amenity of our homes and who did so without the benefit of relevant planning permission.”

In a separate submission to the council prior to a decision being made, Dr Reynolds stated that “thus far, all advantage seems to have been afforded the party who actually breached planning law. I would suggest it is now time to give our concerns all the necessary, substantial and primary consideration.

Mr Lynch is the Managing Director of Michael Lynch Ltd, one of the most successful construction firms in the Mid-West. The Lynch family own a number of hotels. Mr Lynch was unavailable for comment yesterday as he was away.

CLARE County Council has come under fire for zoning for housing, land in the north Clare coastal village of Ballyvaughan, but then not granting planning permission.

The charge has come from architect, Michael Leahy, in the course of an appeal to An Bord Pleanala where he urges the board to overturn a decision to refuse planning for nine homes by McCarthy Bros in Ballyvaughan.

The development was refused because of an inadequate sewerage supply for Ballyvaughan, the haphazard nature to the development, the proposed massing of the development and access issues.

However, Mr Leahy has told the board: “If the council is prepared to prevent development in the area of Ballyvaughan because of the deficiency of sewerage treatment, without looking at alternative methods of sewerage treatment, then they should not have zoned the land for residential development.

“The development plan gives a five year period within which development may reasonably be expected to be carried out, and in fact, it could be argued that failure to secure development of land which is zoned in a development plan represents failure on the part of the local authority.

“It seems to me to be remarkable that the council can in the first instance zone for residential development and lead someone to have a reasonable expectation of being able to develop their lands and then refuse to grant permission on those lands as a matter of principle.

“Refusing to grant permission on the basis of inadequate sewerage is not a simple site specific matter, it is a refusal in principle to grant permission on land. If this is the council’s position in respect of this zoned land then why was the land zoned for residential development.

“It is certainly surprising that none of the issues which have been raised in the reasons for refusal by the council were not dealt with by way of request for additional information.

“It is most unusual for the council to automatically refuse permission without issuing a request for additional information to determine if the issues involved can be resolved

“The only logical interpretation of the development plan having zoned this area, if sewerage is not adequate, is that the council would be prepared to accept temporary solutions in regard to provision of sewerage pending the upgrading of the sewerage system.

“If this is not the case, then surely, the council is in breach of its own Development Plan by refusing permission.