The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE Ennis 2040 plan shows a pathway forward for the county town, but in Clare’s second largest town there has been a feeling in recent years that it is far from a priority.
Sinn Féin Councillor Donna McGettigan represents Shannon and she said while a new masterplan is being created for the town, it does seem like Ennis is receiving far more care and attention.
“The population in Shannon is stagnant for a long time and there’s nothing to draw people in,” she said.
While there have been complaints for years that a conventional streetscape hasn’t been developed, she also has concerns about the local housing situation.
“Housing is a huge issue in Shannon. There are loads of companies and where are their staff to live? It could discourage companies from coming in if there aren’t houses there for their workers. That’s a big issue.”
She said that what new houses have been built in Shannon have been left without quite basic public facilities.
“There are fairly new housing estates but there are no facilities there, absolutely zero. There’s no play park for kids, buses don’t go there, we’re basically building housing estates but without the facilities to go with them. There isn’t even a local shop, that’s grand if you have a car, but not if you don’t.
“There’s no point in building these housing estates with nothing to go with them.”
Recent years have seen quite a lot of disillusionment in the town, particularly following the lack of funding available for the development of the proposed Venue facility, and the County Council’s decision to reject Aldi’s application to develop a new Shannon store.
While the new masterplan is still in development, there has been some negative feedback to the initial draft proposals also.
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
