Fears over possible site sale

SHANNON Town Councillors are concerned about the possible sale of a 1.4 acre site in the heart of the town.

Prior to their meeting on Tuesday, Labour Councillor Tony McMahon put forward a motion calling on the county council to “clarify the status of the 1.4 acre site being offered for sale adjacent to the garda station, the nature of development envisaged and how it will impact on the town park.”
A written reply from senior executive engineer, Eugene O’Shea, to the meeting stated that the site “is not in the ownership of the council and its zoning in the draft Shannon Town and Environs Local Area Plan 2012-18 is for mixed use”.
Councillor McMahon said a number of people had been anxious, upon seeing the piece of land in question was for sale. “A lot of people consider it to be part of the town park,” he commented.
He questioned if the piece of land could be bought to add to the park and he said if this was not possible, the authorities should be “very selective” about what type of development is allowed there.
His party colleague, Greg Duff, said he hoped the county council would be able to take over the site “or at least have a watching brief” over it.
Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn said he was very disappointed with the response from the council, which he said was a “Pontius Pilate”.
He questioned the turn of events at the time of the takeover of Shannon by the local authority and said he wanted to have some clarity on who owns the site. “It’s possible that it belongs to Shannon Development and if it is, they should do the decent thing and hand it over to Clare County Council.” He also said Shannon Development had kept the town’s “crown jewels” by retaining commercial lands.
Councillor Sean McLoughlin said if clarification was being sought on whether Shannon Development own the site, they should also be asked what other lands in the town are theirs.