Ballyalla land sale no value to local amenities

MONEY received from the sale of land at Ballyalla Lake, which goes under the hammer this week, will not be ring-fenced for the provision of recreational facilities in the area, despite the best efforts of local councillors.

Three councillors from Ennis met with strong opposition from their peers when they tried to get the council to agree to spend the money received for the land ploughed back into its immediate vicinity.
Councillors Johnny Flynn, Tony Mulqueen and Pat Daly tabled a motion to Clare County Council saying they want to see the proceeds from the auction of 96 acres of council-owned land at Drumcliffe and Ballyalla Lake ring-fenced “for the general Ennis area for the provision of sports/community facilities”.

Councillor Flynn said he believed the money from the sale of the lands at the popular recreation area should be used, in conjunction with sports clubs, to provide facilities. One example of this he said would be the construction of state-of-the-art kayak club buildings at the lake.

Councillor Mulqueen said he believes the money should be spent locally and not absorbed into the council’s central funds.

Councillor Daly pointed out, “sports facilities are important for our young people” and highlighted a number of excellent facilities around the Ennis area.
Councillor Tom McNamara described Ballyalla as “a great amenity” and said there is now the opportunity to maximise it.

“The sale of the 96 acres of farmland is a windfall and should be treated as such and should be focused on a particular plan, rather than sucked into the coffers of Clare County Council,” said Councillor Joe Arkins from Ruan.

Councillor Arkins said he felt the money should be spent on something which “doesn’t have a blue chance in hell of getting funding otherwise”.

That was the extent of support the plan received.

Councillor PJ Kelly said he could not agree with the motion as outlined by the group of Ennis councillors, arguing he is “vehemently against” earmarking the money for Ennis.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy from Shannon pointed out land had been sold in her electoral area over the years and the proceeds of it had been put into the council’s central fund. However, she conceded that money from the lands should be spent on projects or improvements in the county and should not go to paying off debt to central government.

Mayor Pat Hayes voiced his dissent on the issue, saying nearly €7 million was spent on Lees Road, while other parts of the county are still waiting for investment in facilities.

Other councillors expressed their surprise that the land was being sold now when land prices, they suggested, are not optimum.

Michael McNamara, senior executive officer, Corporate Services replied to the motion saying,

“Regulations require that proceeds from the sale of an asset by a local authority must be applied in either the purchase or construction of capital-type assets. Over the years, it has not been the practice to ring-fence proceeds from sales of property to the particular area in which the property was situated.

“Proceeds from sales over recent years have been used to fund the provision of assets such as the area depots at Shannon, Kilrush and Bodyke and also the area offices provided at Scariff and Ennistymon.”

County manager Tom Coughlan added the money could not be ring-fenced saying, “It has to be lodged in a central fund”.

Mr McNamara explained the land does have some lake frontage but is not accessible by public road.
Councillors asked officials to withdraw the piece of land adjacent to the lake, approximately 200 metres the meeting heard, from the auction. However, council officials warned this would likely impact on the price received for the tract.

The auction of the land is due to take place on Friday.