This article is from page 29 of the 2007-10-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 29 JPG
A GROUP of landowners have ap- pealed a decision by Clare County Council to give permission for a €10 million retail park on the northern side of Ennis.
In the plan, Keco Development has secured planning permission on a site 3km north east of Ennis that will involved the development of 25 retail units.
According to the promoters of the venture, the development offers a high quality, purpose designed and built retail park to this important gateway; the zoning of the site allows for the uses proposed; this site is well
placed with regards to its proximity to the northern end of the bypass as a link to the rest of Ennis and beyond They claim that the proposal will not have an adverse impact on the town centre of Ennis or any other centre as established in the retail 1m- pact statement and the development will improve the competitiveness of Ennis and the county as a whole in line with the county retail strategy The statement points out, “There is a clear need for this type of develop- ment within the Ennis Environs and this site is available in the short term to meet those needs in conjunction with other retail proposals in the area and will be instrumental in reducing
the flow of bulky goods in the Lim- erick Metropolitan area.”
The owners of the land are John Dillane of Banner Motors, Oliver Walsh of Oliver Walsh Motors, Liam Cleary of Cleary Motors and Enda O’Connor of O’Connor Engineering.
The statement says that Oliver Walsh and Liam Cleary Motors are to relocate from existing out of cen- tre site as the sites no longer meet the requirements of their business.
However, in an appeal lodged by Messrs Byrne, O’Dea, Curran, Mul- lins, Tuohy and Heaslip, they claim that the proposal “clearly presents a serious potential flooding situation to our property, which is of serious con-
cern to us and will result in reduction in property values and affect the ease and enjoyment of these properties”.
They state, “A hydrological impact assessment attached to the applica- tion confirms that the development would encroach on the floodable area of the site, which 1s caused by the Lough, by an amount of eight hectare or approximately 37 per cent of the floodable area.
“The applicant intends to maxim- ise the commercial potential of this site without having due regard to the effect which this will have on our chent’s adjoining properties from a point of view of flooding potential and other considerations as noted