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THE closing off of the entrance to the Cluainin apartments at Tullyvarraga could result in a death, so difficult does it make access for emergency vehicles, the May meeting of local councillors heard.
In a motion before the meeting, Fianna Fáil’s Pat O’Gorman said, “I’m calling on this Municipal District to reopen the entrance to Cluainin apartments as a matter of health and safety.
“There are a lot of residential care facilities within the above address, which call on emergency services on a more regular basis.
“When there is an emergency and the Eircode is given out the ambulance is not directed to the house but to the entrance that has been closed off by Clare County Council.
“The entrance has to be reopened or at the very least in the meantime the maps should be updated.”
However a report from Senior Executive Planner Gareth Ruane explained the reasoning.
“The Cluainin housing development received planning permission to use a temporary access onto Cronan Lawn/Cronan Grove until such time as the remainder of the site was completed.
“The original planning permission for Cluainin clearly shows its permanent access route through the adjacent site and onto a roundabout on the Local Road L-3310 Bóthar Luachra.
“There was a deal in developing the adjoining site and during this period, the temporary access remained in use.
“There were ongoing objections and concerns expressed by the residents of Cronan Lawn/Cronan Grove about the continued use of this temporary access.
“Once the adjoining site was completed in January 2020, there was an obligation on the Council to ensure that the planning conditions for Cluainin development were complied with.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic there was a delay in carrying out these works, however the works to close the temporary entrance and link the development to the new permanent exit were completed in March 2022.
“The Planning Department are finalising the taking in charge of the Cluainin development and this recommendation will be brought before the Shannon MD members during 2022 and as part of this process, the Planning Department has committed to reviewing and updating the signage for the Cluainin development.”
However Councillor O’Gorman was far from satisfied.
“The closure of this road could end up causing a death,” he warned.
He said that on April 29 an ambulance had to go to the site, but following the Eircode, it ended up going to the entrance which has been closed.
A ten minute delay resulted, and while he said it didn’t end with a fatality, it was serious.
While he accepted that what is in place was a decision that had been made some time back, he said it was not necessarily the correct decision.
He said that people had got used to the entrance that has now been closed, and that there have been issues that may not have been foreseen when the initial decision was taken.
Ultimately it was decided that there be discussions with the Council’s planning section about options for access there.
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
