Industrial sites removed from draft plan

THE creation of up to 1,000 manufacturing jobs on the Clare side of the Shannon Estuary hangs in the balance unless five sites for marine-related industry are reinstated to the Draft Clare County Development Plan 2011 to 2017.
That’s the warning issued this week by Ennis Councillor Johnny Flynn, who expressed fears that the facility could be transferred to another existing port in the country.
The five sites earmarked for marine-related industry are in an area off Cahercon, near Kildysart, to a location near Killimer and were initially recommended by planners as “specific opportunity sites for industry”. The council has now been requested by the Department of the Environment to omit these sites in favour of a Strategic Integrated Framework Plan (SIFP) for the Shannon Estuary, which will be subject to the availability of funding next year.
Councillor Flynn believes a new major deep-sea port with an investment of €5bn could be developed on the northern bank of the Shannon Estuary, with a new motorway across the three islands near Shannon Airport linking the port with the national motorway in Shannon, which could also be attached to a new Shannon rail spur.
He claimed that the original draft would have led to the development of the estuary, creating thousands of jobs over a 12-month to 18-month period.
He said it seemed there was a green blanket being placed over the county and there appeared to be an ideological objection to the development of the Clare side of the estuary.
He said one agent who looked at a number of sites on the estuary recently wondered why so much development was permitted on the southern side but not on the northern side of the estuary.
Councillor Flynn said it was decided that the current Draft Development Plan should be put on display to allow people to make submissions before coming back to the council for further consideration. The closing date for submissions to the development plan elapsed last Wednesday.
However, senior planner, Gordon Daly noted the omission of the five sites was recommended by the executive and agreed with by the councillors at their September meeting as part of the proposed amendments to the Draft Clare County Development Plan 2011-2017.
Mr Daly noted that the council was acutely aware of the potential that the Shannon Estuary offered and this was reflected in the fact that the draft development plan contained for the first time a dedicated strategy for the development of the estuary. 
However, he confirmed the council was requested by the Department of the Environment to defer identifying specific opportunity sites until such time as a more detailed study of the entire area of the Shannon Estuary was carried out. 
These detailed environmental assessments are required under EU legislation. 
“This framework plan will identify both the nature of the development, economic growth and employment that can be sustainably accommodated within the Shannon Estuary and the location of the sites that could accommodate specific types of development, whilst also ensuring that the environmentally sensitive sites within the estuary are also protected. It is aimed to commence work on this framework plan in 2011 subject to funding.
“The preparation of this framework plan is also an objective of the Mid-West Regional Planning Guidelines and it is important, therefore, that the regional and national importance of the estuary is also recognised,” he explained.
In the interim, he outlined the preparation of the SIFP doesn’t prevent individual proposals along the Shannon Estuary being considered and going through the normal planning and other consent procedures.
Councillor PJ Kelly claimed the directive from the Department of the Environment was the produced of “political prostitution” arising out the Green Party’s influence on favouring the protection of habitats and animals.
He said it now appeared people and job creation were being placed at the bottom of the list of priorities in the Department of the Environment.
He said that a potential investor who was interested in creating 1,000 jobs wanted to be near a deep-water port where materials for the manufacture of concrete instead of steel turbines could be easily transported by sea and the final product could also be exported abroad.
Councillor Richard Nagle said one of the main criticisms of the previous development plan was the lack of zoned land for industrial development on the Clare side of the estuary.
“One of the first things that a potential investor checks is whether or not an area is zoned for development. Councillors sought to address the deficit and the last development plan and now it seems we are being scuppered by the Department of the Environment,” he said.