Ennis

DEVELOPMENT plans at one of the county’s best-known hotels have been put on hold following the lodging of an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. Duesbury Limited were granted planning permission by Ennis Town Council to extend the pavement to allow for outdoor seating on O’Connell Street outside the Old Ground Hotel.

Much-anticipated flood relief works in the Watery Road/Elm Park area of the town have moved a step closer this week. Ennis Town Council has signed a contract with Ward & Burke Construction for the works, which are now due to begin at the end of this month.

PEOPLE people are being invited to have their say in shaping Ennis’ future. Members of the public throughout the county are being invited to play their part in the formulation of the new Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2014 – 2020.

BRENNAN’S Boulevard, Neylon’s Coal Run, Meaney’s Motorway and Flynn’s Flyover – just some of the more interesting names that have been put forward for the new Ennis Inner Relief Road.

LOCAL businesses and groups are to be encouraged to ‘Adopt a Road’ as Ennis hopes to improve its already impressive marks in the national Tidy Towns competition.

  MORE than 360 people participated in the second annual Irish Christmas Tree Throwing Championship held at Lees Road Sports and Amenity Facility, Ennis at the weekend. The fundraising event, which is based on age-old lumberjack traditions and is commonplace across Germany and Austria, saw members of the public compete to determine the Irish distance record for throwing a standard 1.5m tree.  John O’Dea from Cappamore in County Limerick secured a new Irish record and the championship title after he threw a Christmas tree a distance of 10.2m, beating fellow competitor Sean Jaffray’s (Scotland) effort by just 0.3m. Norah Murphy won the ladies’ title with her throw of 6.3m, while the U-12 section was won by Soran Drayas (9.2m) and Aoife O’Gara (7.86m). All proceeds raised during the contest, which was organised by Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council, went to the Clare branch of Cystic Fibrosis. According to Joan Tarmey, environmental awareness officer, Clare County Council, “We were …

MORE than €6,000 was raised for Cahercalla Hospice through the creation of a Christmas remembrance tree in the centre of Ennis.

  ***The year in review*** The ongoing saga of the controversial plans by Michael Lynch Limited for the construction of a €34 million retail development on the outskirts of Ennis continued throughout 2012.In January, Ennis Town Council refused planning permission for the development considering it to be “premature”. This decision has since been appealed to An Bord Pleanála who, at the time of writing, had yet to make a decision.The retail development is proposed for a site at the Limerick Road / Tobarteascain Road, with Tesco set to be the main anchor tenant. The plans have been opposed by a number of groups including Ennis Chamber, businesses and traders associations and local residents who have voiced concerns that it could lead to a ‘doughnut effect’. In making the decision to refuse planning permission, the local authority stated it was satisfied that the development was acceptable and compliant with the objectives for the site as set out in the Ennis and …