This article is from page 15 of the 2006-08-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
CLARE County Council continues to have concerns over the scale of the planned €70 million retirement village at Carnelly House and has requested the developers to scale back its plans.
Last December, €70 million plans were announced by the Dublin-based Master Group to transform the 18th century house near Clarecastle into a retirement village.
The project involves the constriction of 120 homes of various sizes, 35 apartments and a 64-bed retirement home in a scheme that will accommodate 300 residents.
Already, the promoters of Ireland’s rst full-scale retirement village have conrmed that they are to spend €120,000 on ensuring the welfare of 30 tiny bats on the site in a bid to meet the conservation requirements at the site, which is regarded as a nationally important maternity roost for the rare and protected Lesser Horseshoe Bat.
But the council says that it continues to have some concerns in relation to a number of issues.
These include waste water treatment, the scale of the proposal on Carnelly House, the provision of a potable water supply, the loss of mature trees and habitat and details pertaining to restoration of the historic structures.
In relation to its concerns over the scale of the development, the council stated that it is considered that the proposal for 152 residential units is excessive and would greatly impact on the rural parkland setting of Carnelly House and its associated outbuildings, thereby contravening the policy of the Ennis and Environs Plan 2003.
The council has also asked the developers to submit revised plans as the scheme referred to is a retirement village and the build elements don’t reect the typography of Irish village structure.