This article is from page 4 of the 2006-11-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE tax-payer is facing an estimated €1 million bill after Ennis Town Council sold a prime town centre site without first resolving a dispute over access to the property.
After five days in the High Court, the Kennedy family from Francis Street in Ennis is to receive €300,000 compensation arising from its dispute with the town council. The local authority has also agreed to pay the Kennedy’s legal costs.
According to James Kennedy, the council’s bill is expected to rise near to €1 million with an estimated €600,000 legal costs as well as costs to technical witnesses.
“I understand the bill will go to around €1 million and it would have been avoided if the council had got off its high horse and started dealing with people directly.
“This took three and a half years to resolve, but it could have been resolved in three hours before any High Court proceedings were brought. It’s bit of a cod that it ever got as far as the High Court. I was always open to negotiation and never gave any impression otherwise, but the council it appears is used to intimidating people.”
The High Court case stemmed from the council issuing proceedings against the Kennedys claiming that they were slandering the title of land the council sold to developers, Ray Staunton and Kieran Flanagan for €1 million in 2003. Planning permission was secured for a four storey apartment building on the site last year, but work hasn’t started because of the dispute. The .445 acre site is adjacent to Glor and was part of 3.5 acres the Kennedys sold to the council under threat of Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in 1997.
One of the conditions was that the council would provide an access road from Mary Kennedy’s bungalow. Planning permission was sought by the Kennedys for the access road, but was refused by the council over traffic safety concerns.
Mr Kennedy said the settlement obliges the council to provide an access road to Mrs Kennedy’s bungalow three metres from the original proposed route.
This new route does not cut across the lands sold by the council to Mr Staunton. The site sold by the council to the developers will have to be moved by three metres and it is not known if this will affect the planning permission granted.
In a short statement last night, the town council said that it had agreed to pay the Kennedys €200,000 plus costs. Mr Kennedy said: “The agreement states that we are receiving €300,000.”
Former mayor, Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said he was ‘gobsmacked’ that the council would pursue the Kennedys if there was an agreement to provide access.
“I wasn’t even aware that the case was going on. I would be worried if the pay-out by the council would have a negative impact on the budget for next year,” he said.