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GREEN Party councillor, Donal O’Bearra has stated that the planned €20 million redevelopment of a site overlooking the River Fergus in Ennis raises the spectre of a concrete jungle in Ennis, unless a number of issues are addressed.

Last month, a Galway company, Briarlane Development Ltd lodged plans for the site, which would provide a new pedestrian bridge across the River Fergus to the Abbey Street car-park, adding to the four vehicular bridges already in use in and around the town centre.

The new proposal – in common with the application turned down by An Bord Pleanala last July – seeks to transform the Ennis skyline with a six-storey apartment block.

The development also includes a plan to develop a 30-bedroom hotel, 58 apartments, eight commercial units and 238 car-parking spaces, along with one three-storey and one two-storey block.

The developers are expected to state to Ennis Town Council that if permitted, the development will revitalise what is currently an underutilised backland site.

However, Cllr O’Bearra has lodged an objection against the proposal.

“The spectre of a concrete jungle is not an exaggerated prospect unless the role of nature as a significant component and partner in our built environment is recognised, actively and seriously cultivated, restored and progressed in real terms.

“The built component of our environment has alone dictated our social environment in the absence of nature for too long and to the detriment of the balanced whole.

“It is time to redress the natural deficit.”

Cllr O’Bearra claimed that the application “from the point of view of urban ecology, the built town’s relationship with the natural environment lacks respect, creativity and application and consequently goes against both the spirit and intentions of the Town Plan.

“The council should acknowledge this and act decisively and proactively in its role as upholder of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2003.”

Cllr O’Bearra has requested “a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) should be carried out of the bird life, aquatic flora and fauna, so that the importance of wildlife in urban areas such as this is highlighted.

“It is clear that without a little more imagination and application the current proposals are patently at cross purposes and even belligerent to the intention to protect, conserve and enhance the natural environment contained in the Development Plan.”

A decision is expected on the application next month.

A 21-YEAR-old member of the travelling community, who refused to pay for a taxi which had taken him from Limerick to Shannon, has received a four-month suspended jail sentence.

John McDonagh, who resides at a traveller accommodation facility in Ballymurtagh, Shannon, was told by Judge Aeneas McCarthy that the only reason he was suspending the sentence was because the taxi driver was later paid.

Limerick city-based taxi driver Martin Walsh told Ennis District Court that he received a call to collect a fare at the Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle, Limerick. When he arrived, he said he met a “gentleman and a lady with a young baby.”

The taxi driver identified Mr McDonagh to the court.

Mr Walsh told the court he agreed a fare of €25 for the journey with the accused. When they arrived in Shannon, McDonagh “directed me into the halting site.”

Mr Walsh claimed that McDonagh refused to pay him, saying he had no money. He said McDonagh asked him to call back later and that he would have the money for him then.

Mr Walsh told the court that the accused asked his three-year-old child if he had money for the taxi.

Investigating Garda Paul McBride said when he asked the defendant if he had got a taxi earlier from Limerick, he replied, “you must be mad.”

When Garda McBride told the accused that the taxi driver was in the back of the patrol car, McDonagh went to a house and came back with €25 in cash.

In his evidence, McDonagh claimed that he always intended to pay for the taxi but that he had no money and his mother was not home at the time.

Judge McCarthy convicted the accused and imposed a four-month suspended jail sentence.

FOUR Ennis men charged with violent disorder have been sent forward for trial to the Circuit Court.

William Fox (22), of Hermitage, Ennis; Clinton Keane (22), of Castlewood Park, Ennis; Michael McCarthy (24), of Watery Road, Ennis, and a young person who cannot be named because of his age, are accused of the alleged offence in Ennis town centre, on March 18 last year.

Clinton Keane and another man Christopher Dobbin (22), of John Paul Avenue, Ennis, are also accused of assaulting a man, on the same date. Ennis district court was told that a book of evidence has been served on all of the accused.

LAST year saw a record number of houses built in Co Clare. There was an 18.7 per cent increase in the number of houses built in Clare in 2005, more than 3.5 times the national increase.

Neighbouring county Galway reported a decrease of 5.6 per cent in its home building in 2005, while Limerick had a small increase of 1.2 per cent.

Clare had the fourth highest increase in home completions within the last 12 months. Despite the Clare building boom however, house hunters struggled to find new homes in the Ennis area towards the end of 2005. The house shortage is about to change over the coming year, as planning applications begin to meet the ever-increasing demand.

In the Ennis area alone 1,664 applications are with the respective planning authorities for new developments. A total of 750 of those units are due for discussion shortly. Another 408 housing units before the council require further information, with 250 more applications needing further clarification.

A total of 93 units have been granted planning permission in the Ennis area and await construction. A further 163 units have been granted permission but appealed.

According to Helen Gallery from Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon, the first time buyers’ market is very strong in the county town, as are sales in more upmarket developments. A lot of first time buyers are now buying second-hand, due to the elimination of stamp duty on these properties for those entering the property market. This intern allows a lot of people to “trade up”, explained Ms Gallery.

The cost of homes in Ennis has also increased slightly in the last year. A three bed semi detached house now starts at €225,000. A town house could go for €200,000 while a four bed detached is estimated to cost between €300,000 and €310,000.

In total 2,174 were built in the county last year, with 1,537 registered. The total number of house completions for 2005 nationally was 80,957 units, up 5.2 per cent on 2004.

Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal Noel Ahern said, “We are building more than double the amount of houses in 2005 than in 1997.”

“In fact Ireland is now producing houses at a rate of 20 per 1,000 residents. That is a phenomenal level. It also indicates that the strong demand for housing is being met by a strong supply.”

The Minister also indicated he expected considerable growth in the output of affordable housing through the various affordable housing schemes with in excess of 12,000 homes expected for delivery through these schemes in the period 2005 to 2007.

THE ESB has lodged an appeal to An Bord Pleanala against a decision by Ennis Town Council to refuse planning permission for an 80 foot mast within the grounds of its Cahercalla More substation in Ennis.

The move by the ESB to appeal will cause concern to Ennis residents. An Bord Pleanala often overturns decisions made by local authorities in relation to telecommunications mast. The planned mast provoked widespread opposition from residents, who expressed concern over the health implications of the mast being so close to a residential area. It would also be in close proximity to Éire Óg GAA club.

The residents claimed: “The proposed development is totally and utterly out of character with any development in the area. The area is zoned commercial and not industrial. Therefore, the erection of the communications mast should not be considered. The proposed structure totally towers over any existing structure in the area.”

The council stated that it refused permission as the proposed development would be visually obtrusive in the area, would materially contravene Environment Policy 5 of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan and would seriously injure the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity.

However, in their appeal, the ESB states: “The proposed structure is a slim line monopole structure that was specifically designed for use in urban industrial areas. We believe that using this structure the visual impact on the area will be nominal.” A decision is due on the appeal in April.

BUNRATTY Castle and Folk Park has been voted the ninth least enjoyable place to visit in Ireland in a major online survey released last week.

The south Clare tourist attraction finished alongside the likes of Limerick and Belfast city in a survey of 1126 people conducted by the DoChara website.

The survey, carried out between August and November of last year, was compiled completely online through the DoChara website. This is an independently run site which offers advice and reviews about tourist destinations in Ireland.

Dublin City topped the list of least favourite place to visit and was followed by Galway City and Killarney. The top ten included Cork City, Temple Bar, the Ring of Kerry and the Guinness Tour in Dublin.

On a positive note, the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher was listed as the second favourite place to visit in the same survey. The Ring of Kerry topped this section of the pole with Dingle and Newgrange also featuring prominently.

According to Katherine Nolan of DoChara, the survey has created an amount of confusion because more people responded to the “most enjoyable” survey than the “least enjoyable” survey.

“It took far fewer votes to get onto the least enjoyed lists than the favourites one,” Ms Nolan told The Clare People .

“I have looked at those who mentioned Bunratty and there was more than a 3:1 ratio of people who mentioned it positively to those who mentioned it negatively. But that was not enough to get it onto the top 10 favourites list.”

Indeed, almost 50 per cent of those who responded to the survey left the negative comments section blank. Ms Nolan estimates that Bunratty would have finished at around 15th place in the most enjoyable section, had the list been extended past the top 10.

The Director of Heritage and Tourism at Shannon Development, John King, has described the survey as “contradictory”.

“The survey seems to be contradictory in parts with a number of places featuring in the both the most popular and least popular sections,” said Mr King. “We will continue to concentrate on the superb range of attractions and natural beauty that is available in Clare.”

The DoChara website is targeted specifically at the foreign tourist market and the majority of those who responded to survey were American.

Indeed, of the 1126 valid responses 54 per cent listed their nationality as American or Canadian, 19 per cent as British, and 3 per cent as European. 14 per did not specify.

FÁILTE Ireland has this week committed its largest ever budget for the development of tourism in the Shannon region.

The 2006 organisations budget of €9 million, which was announced at their annual conference in Limerick on Friday, will be spent on marketing, business supports, training, and supporting the activities of Shannon Development.

Speaking at the conference the chief executive of Fáilte Ireland, Shaun Quinn, noted the benefits to the region of the increased Ryanair activity in Shannon Airport: “It was encouraging to note that the increase in direct air access from continental Europe has benefited the region in terms of overnight visitors.

“Activities and attractions are central to increasing the visitors spend and it this is especially important for rural areas.”

The conference was co-hosted by Tourism Ireland, the agency charged with marketing Ireland in foreign countries.

Tourism Ireland chief executive, Paul O’Toole, unveiled its new €50 million, three-year advertising campaign which they hope will reach an audience of some 200 million people per annum.

The advertisement will feature images of Dromoland Castle and the Cliffs of Moher, as well as a number of other tourist locations from around Ireland.

“Tourism Ireland will adopt a multifaceted strategy for the accelerated promotion of the regions of Ireland overseas,” said Mr O’Toole.

“We will invest an estimated €5m to support this strategy and engage in additional, co-operative marketing with all regions.”

Also speaking at the conference, John King, Heritage and Tourism Director of Shannon Development said that his priority will be to work closely with Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the region’s tourism interests to capitalise on the potential of a greatly expanded range of direct flights into Shannon Airport and the West of Ireland.

Meanwhile, an initiative launched last week should bring training and development for tourism businesses in Clare to a new level, according to those behind the project. Learning networks, poised to meet the needs of small and mediumsized tourism enterprises in the county, will be set up over the next three years.

Essentially it will see those involved in tourism joining learning clusters, consisting of other tourism interests, with whom they will liaise.

Limerick-based May Day Management Consultants has been awarded the contract for delivering the initiative in the Shannon region. Its managing consultant, Padraig Cleary said 25 businesses in Clare have been invited to get involved.

DOZENS of Clare people have been duped in a scheme which involves them losing huge amounts of money on the false promise of massive returns.

One Clare mother of two revealed how she invested her childrens’ college fund in the “gifting” pyramid scheme and now holds out no hope of getting it back.

“I can’t believe now that I fell for it,” said the East Clare woman, who asked that her identity not be disclosed.

She told The Clare People that she invested €5,000 which she and her husband “scrimped to save for our children’s college years and now there’s no hope of getting anything out of it.”

The scheme operates through people putting up money which is then paid to earlier investors.

The new investor is also told to recruit two more people to invest. The investors are told they will get their cash back eight fold or more within two months.

But while the few at the top of the pyramid payments scheme stand to make thousands, those who are duped into investing as the scam nears collapse lose everything

The East Clare woman revealed that she was hooked into the get-rich-quick scam by a close friend.

“I don’t believe that she ever intended to do me out of money because she has had nothing back either,” she said.

“She put me in touch with the man who recruited her and he made it sound so foolproof – he said he had made almost €100,000 and that he was reinvesting to make more.

“She and I were convinced that we would get €40,000 back in about eight weeks,” the woman added.

But while the Clare woman’s friend successfully recruited two more investors, she could not convince anyone to put more money up to meet her recruitment clause.

“Our kids are just started in secondary school but we had been putting savings away and we planned to put a decent lump sum in investments once we’d saved enough,” she said.

“I haven’t told my husband that I took the money out for this. I feel so guilty – that was my children’s money.”

The schemes are not covered by laws brought in 1980 which outlaw pyramid selling but Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Tony Kileen said that he will be raising the matter at a meeting with Minister Michael Martin next week.

“This pyramid scheme hits at people who are vulnerable and they can lose serious amounts of money,” he commented.

“It certainly seems that legislation is needed to tackle it.”

And Paul Woulfe of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Ennis said that people “should take proper financial advice before they invest big sums of money.

“It is easy to be caught out if you’re not used to dealing with finances.”

MAYOR of Ennis, Frankie Neylon, has expressed his disappointment that Ennis Town Council was not adequately informed during the consultation process for the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.

Cllr Neylon said that the council had had very little input into the plan and that it hadn’t been brought up at discussion level at council level.

The Mayor made his comments at last Tuesday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council where the members voted to accept 26 changes to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan which would see large tracts of land in the town rezoned.

The council also decided to delete from the plan a proposal regarding infrastructural safeguards in the Eastern Residential Area of Ennis.

“We were always told that this was our plan but this wasn’t brought up at council level.

“We had a very small input into it.

“I think we were very badly informed on the matter and I am dissapointed that things like that happen” said Cllr Neylon.

The decision to adopt the variations to the plan was carried after 62 vote in favour of the motion proposed by Cllr Peter Considine (FF) which stated that the variations be withdrawn pending the outcome of a study pertaining to the infrastructural requirements for routes in the area.

“For once in my life I would go toward the planners because I would put people before cars. We should defer section three.

“We are morally obliged to get the full information before we make a decision,” said Cllr Considine.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) proposed the non adoption of the variation on the grounds that the plan didn’t encourage the development of renewable energy; the use of public transport; it didn’t make adequate provision for road safety and the groundwater vulnerability in the Ballymaquiggan and Reskaun clusters.

Cllr Flynn was supported in his proposal by Cllr Donal O’Beara (GP) who claimed that there hadn’t been a sufficient and comprehensive review of the plan.

Deputy Mayor Joe Reidy (FF) excused himself from the voting on the grounds that his father owned a section of land in Clarecastle that was due to be rezoned under the variation.

THE Whelan Group this week suffered a major setback when it failed to secure full planning for a multi-million euro extension to its flagship operation on the outskirts of Ennis.

The plan had encountered strong local opposition and last Friday, Clare County Council granted planning permission to retain its quarry operation, but refused permission for much of the planned extension.

The retention area covers 23 acres of land, while the planned extension involves 16 acres. Residents had claimed that the plan would lead to nuisance of dust, noise, air and water pollution within the Fountain area.

Plans were first lodged for the proposal in May 2004 and Managing Director of the Whelan Group, Paddy Whelan criticised the length of time it took for the council to evaluate the application.

“It is nearly two years since we made the application,” he told The Clare People . “It sounds ridiculous, but that it is the way it has happened. It doesn’t say much for the promotion of industry in the county.”

Mr Whelan said that he had not yet gone through the planning conditions attached to the permission. They limit the scope of the planning permission granted by the council, which ruled that the plan would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity and would not be prejudicial to public health.

The local authority has granted planning for sections one to five of the application, but refused planning to sections six and seven, apart from one area being sought for planning retention.

The Whelan Group had sought permission to extend the life of the quarry by 26 years and will have an operating capacity of producing 370,000m of limestone product per annum.

However, the grant of permission is for a 10-year period only, unless a further grant is obtained.

The council has also ruled that no works are to commence until planning permission is granted for improvements to the existing access on the main Ennis-Lahinch Road.

The local authority has also imposed a condition that the company supply an annual aerial photo to enable the council assess the development of the quarry.

And it has been requested that the Whelan Group provide €239,000 to the council in planning contributions.