Ennis private hospital plan rejected

A planning application to build a €40 million private hospital in Ennis has been refused by An Bord Pleanála.

The 100-bed hospital at Shanaway Road, proposed by developers Pat Bonner and John Stack on lands rezoned by Clare County Council, was deemed by the board to represent a “disorderly approach to development”.
Concerns were also raised about the site’s “isolated” location and deficiencies in wastewater treatment facilities serving the area.
Welcoming the decision to refuse planning permission, one of the objectors, Geraldine Donnelly stated, “An Bord Pleanála went through all of the reports and took into consideration everything that we had to say and made the right decision.”
Clare County Council had granted planning permission for the development last year, subject to 39 conditions, after members of the council voted to materially contravene the Ennis and Environs Development Plan to rezone a site approximately halfway between the Woodstock Hotel and the Lahinch Road.
Twenty eight members of Clare County Council voted in favour of the proposal, while Councillors Tommy Brennan, Brian Meaney and Gerry Flynn voted against the contravention.
The planning permission was later appealed by a number of parties and an oral hearing of An Bord Pleanála was held in Ennis in March.
Objecting to the development were Matt and Bernadette Power, Paul and Geraldine Donnelly and Shane Flanagan. When contacted this week following the decision, Matt Power did not wish to comment. The Clare Champion was unable to contact Shane Flanagan at the time of going to print.
In making its decision to refuse the planning appeal, An Bord Pleanála reasoned that the site of the proposed development was removed from the town centre of Ennis in what was described as a “relatively undeveloped area on the rural fringe of the town”.
The board considered that the proposed site is currently “constrained” in terms of accessibility, wastewater collection and treatment capacity.
“There are limited complementary facilities or amenities at this location to serve the hospital staff or customers, nor would this isolated location offer potential to consolidate or enhance a mixed use urban environment,” according to the board’s direction.
The board went on to reason that regarding the pattern of development in the area and the provisions of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008-2014, including the availability of more appropriately zoned and serviced land in closer proximity to the core of the town, “it is considered that the proposed development of a major hospital facility at this location would represent a disorderly approach to development, would fail to implement national policies for integration of land use and transport envisaged in the national transportation policy, entitled Smarter Travel and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.
The proposed development, if given the go-ahead, would have included the construction of a roundabout at the junction between the N85 and Shanaway Road, at a cost of €550,000 to the developers.
The board stated they were not satisfied that the implications of this roundabout on the free flow of traffic on the national road network had been adequately examined. It was considered that the proposed development would be “premature” pending the determination by the planning authority of the road layout for the area.
An Bord Pleanála also referred to the reliance of the planned hospital on the Clonroadmore wastewater treatment plant being upgraded. This upgrade has yet to achieve planning approval or funding approval and the board considered the proposed development premature “by virtue of the deficiency in waste water treatment facilities serving the area and the period within which the constraints involved may reasonably be expected to cease”.
The board also had concerns in relation to the size of the site, which they believed might restrict opportunities for expansion, the amount of car parking and the absence of detailed landscaping proposals. however these concerns were not included in the refusal reasons.
Following the decision, Councillor Brian Meaney, who had voted against the material contravention last year, commented that it has been shown this was not the best location for such a development.