A MOVE is being made to transform the site of the former Ennis Boys National School on the Kilrush Road in Ennis into a new car park, the Clare Champion can reveal.
City Cinemas Ltd are set to apply to Clare County Council for planning permission to develop a new temporary surface car park with 156 spaces in the county capital.
The planning application will seek a five year permission for the development which will also include 12 accessible bays and four electric vehicle parking bays.
The town centre site has been vacant since 2013 when Ennis National School moved to its new school in Ashline. The Kilrush Road site is zoned as mixed use and has been identified as one of a number of Opportunity Sites in the current County Development Plan.
The planned development of a new car park for Ennis comes hot on the heels of Clare County Council recently giving the green light to Clare GAA for a permanent car park at the Cloister.
CEO of Ennis Chamber Margaret O’Brien has described the plans for a new car park in addition to the Cloister development as “great news” for the town ahead of planned construction works as part of the Ennis Public Realm Regeneration Project.
“Having additional parking at both ends of the town will be particularly important while the public realm works are being done. This is needed and it’s great to see forward planning. This type of work, no matter how great the outcome, is disruptive so it will be good if we have a parking resource put in place to support the town’s needs during the works.”
The planning application is also seeking permission for minor alterations to the existing vehicular entrances to and from the Kilrush road; provision of signage; to provide pedestrian access and internal footpaths; perimeter fencing surrounding the surface car park together with all associated site and ancillary works.
A notice of the developer’s intention to apply for planning permission for the Kilrush Road development has been published this week with the application due to be made to Clare County Council shortly.