Strong objections with Dun Aras decision due

A DECISION is due in the coming days on a proposal for 14 two-storey houses at Dun Aras Avenue.
Ballycasey Property Developments Ltd has put the application before Clare County Council, which has received a number of objections.
One objector stated it would be disastrous for the area and scoffed at the notion locals would monitor potential anti-social behaviour on behalf of the developer.
“It would become a guaranteed hotspot for anti-social behaviour,” the objector noted.
“Already in that very location, the Gardai have been called on a number of occasions. The developer wants the residents to monitor the area for anti-social behaviour that he will have created? That is nothing short of ludicrous.”
Acting for the Dun Aras Residents group, planning consultant Andrew Hersey outlined a number of concerns regarding what is proposed.
“My clients in particular have concerns regarding the proposed entrance arrangements to the estate which is located directly opposite No 3 and 4 Dun Aras Avenue.
“The residents of these houses will be impacted upon significantly by way of traffic entering and exiting the proposed housing estate.
“This impact will be most severe at night when the headlights of cars leaving the estate will shine in the rooms of No 3 and 4 causing significant disturbance to those residents.
“In addition to the above, my clients consider that it is inappropriate to allow residential development at this edge of settlement location when there are more than ample vacant sites available for development more proximate to the town centre, which should be developed first before this site is developed.”
Five further issues – traffic safety and residential amenity; sustainable development; inappropriate location; anti- social behaviour and noise – were all cited as reasons for the objection.
Mr Hersey claimed that the development would be too dependent on car use, being too far from the town centre, amenities, services and public transport routes to allow future residents to use sustainable forms of transport-walking, cycling and use of public transport.
“Future residents will therefore be dependent on the private motor car for transport needs. The proposed development therefore contravenes ministerial Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas 2009.
“The principal focus of these guidelines is the provision of sustainable residential development and the promotion of development that prioritises walking, cycling and public transport, and minimises the need to use cars,” the objection states.
Regarding noise, he stated that the current noise levels on the site are in excess of the range that is recommended by the EPA for outdoor amenity areas.
Mr Hersey claimed physical measures such as noise barriers will need to be installed to reduce noise levels to within acceptable parameters.
“In this respect, I, on behalf of my clients, consider that the proposed development site is not suitable for residential use and the residential amenity of future residents will be compromised if this site is developed.”
A separate objection made by a local resident cast doubt on noise levels provided as part of the application.
In her objection submitted in early August she stated, “The developer has submitted noise levels that he says were obtained ‘when the lockdown ended’.
“Does he live in a different country to the rest of us?
“The lockdown is still here – the vast majority of workers are still working from home, so how can he say that any noise measurements he has taken have any relevance?
“Those measurements can only be taken when workers are fully back to work in factories/offices in the area, probably at the end of this year.
“Until then, those noise level measurements cannot be taken seriously in any sense. They will be completely different this time next year.”