Property depreciation fears over proposed ring road

DEPRECIATION of residential property and noise pollution are some of the key concerns of residents living on the six potential routes for the proposed €40 million ring road of Limerick City.
That’s according to Councillor Cathal Crowe, who claimed he has been inundated with queries from concerned residents since details of the route options went on public display.
Once the route options are whittled down to a single preferred route, Councillor Crowe argued this should be the route that impacts least on residential areas.
He said people are worried about the visual impact the new road could have on their homes. Depreciation of property prices and noise pollution concerns also rank highly in dealings he has had with constituents.
Clare County Council, in conjunction with Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council, has commenced the planning process to advance the development of the Limerick Northern Distributor Road and associated infrastructure from a location in the vicinity of the eastern end of the proposed Coonagh-Knockalisheen Strategic Route to tie-in with the R445 (Old N7) in County Limerick.
The scheme will comprise the design and construction of approximately 10km of road that will include a crossing of the Ardnacrusha Tailrace and River Shannon, together with possible crossings of the Blackwater and Mulkear Rivers.
According to Councillor Crowe, about 120 people attended two recent public information evenings in the Tailrace Bar, Parteen, after which he assisted individuals in making submissions.
In a submission to the council, he claimed public consultation on the proposed road has been poorly advertised.
He stated people residing and farming in the Constraints Study Area did not know about recent information evening in the Greenhills Hotel.
Rather than holding one major information evening, he suggested a series of smaller consultative sessions should have taken place in communities such as Coonagh, Meelick, Parteen, Ardnacrusha, Westbury and Clonlara.
He was informed by the council, however, that the statutory requirement is to hold one information evening at the route selection stage and that the holding of additional meetings could be perceived to give certain communities and sector interest groups an unfair advantage over others.
The ring road should help to improve the connectivity of the region but there are concerns, he warned.
“Where possible, the emerging preferred route should follow farm boundaries. There is a rich agricultural tradition in South-East Clare. Current farming activities in the area include suckler and dairy herding, horse breeding and horticulture.
“If the emerging preferred route is to significantly dissect any of the land holdings in the locality, farming would no longer be a viable activity for the affected landowners,” he claimed.
“The emerging preferred route should not divide villages and settlement clusters. The villages of South-East Clare are distinctively rural in character; I would not like to see these villages become urbanised by the construction of the distributor road.”
He believes the council should circulate an information leaflet to homes within the constraints study area, informing the public of the planning restrictions currently in place.
“Clarification also needs to be given to individuals seeking to build structures of a domestic/commercial and agricultural nature that are typically exempted from the planning process as to whether of not exemptions still apply when the site is within the confines of the study area.
“The development a Northern Relief Road needs to happen in tandem with a number of road improvements and junction upgrades to the existing network of roads in South-East Clare. Regardless of which route is ultimately selected, a number of roads/junctions require urgent attention,” he added.
A council spokesman said the authority could not comment on any one individual submission but pledged all submissions will be considered as part of the public consultation process.
The closing date for submissions was Monday last and the council is now in the process of sending all proposals and comments to the consultants engaged by the authority for the project.