Tag Archives: An Bord Pleanála

A discount supermarket should not be built in a North Clare town because part of the proposed site may have been used as a children’s burial ground, objectors to the project have claimed. Aldi Stores Ireland Ltd was granted permission by Clare County Council last month to demolish Ennistymon Mart and build a single-storey discount foodstore on the site. Now, the Save Ennistymon Mart Committee has submitted an affidavit, sworn by one of its members, to An Bord Pleanála claiming a woman who had lived in the town “had arranged for a priest to bless a part of the Fair Green below Doherty’s gate under which…the bodies of small children had been buried”. “These were unbaptised children whom the Catholic Church did not allow to be buried inside the grounds of the church and graveyard, which is nearby,” the affidavit from local farmer Tom Clair states. The group has opposed the closure and sale of Ennistymon Mart since it was …

DESPITE numerous local objections, Aldi Stores Ireland Ltd have been granted planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings at Ennistymon mart and the construction of a new discount foodstore, including off-licence, with a gross floor area of 1,590m2. Clare County Council granted their application subject to 21 conditions. These include a requirement that the development only operates between 9am and 8pm between Monday and Saturday and only between 10am and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays. There is also a requirement that there be no deliveries between 11am and 7am. The decision will be appealed to An Bord Pleanála, Pat O’Donoghue, chairman of the Save Ennistymon Mart Committee, confirmed on Wednesday. “We have decided to appeal and we have applied for an open forum because it’s much bigger than a farmers’ mart issue, there’s a lot of local residents quite unhappy with the location. There’s a lot of people who are employed in the town who are concerned about …

An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for the construction of a nine turbine wind-farm within sight Doonbeg Golf Resort, as a result of a tiny rare creature likened to “Ireland’s panda”. This follows an appeal by the golf club owner, US billionaire Donald Trump, in addition to objections and observations from over 40 individuals and groups, from the locality, as well as Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), An Taisce and the Irish Peat Conservation Council (IPCC) against Clare Coastal Wind Power’s project, granted planning permission by Clare County Council last year. The inspector recommended a refusal to the wind-farm – 20 ft taller than Dublin’s Spire – on a number of grounds – including the impact the wind farm would have on views from the golf resort and the impact the wind farm would have on the fresh water pearl mussel. In its order, the appeals board stated that it is not satisfied that the proposal would not …

AN Bord Pleanála has been asked to examine if Clare County Council’s approval for the completion of a housing development in Westbury represented a “trade-off of sorts” with NAMA. Councillor Cathal Crowe has submitted a planning appeal to An Bord Pleanála on behalf of former defence minister, Willie O’Dea and 125 residents, who are strongly opposed to the completion of 22 residential units and site works in Westbury. In a recent submission lodged with the appeals board, Councillor Crowe stated the question had to be asked “if the impartiality of Clare County Council in adjudicating this planning file was compromised”. However, Clare County Council has responded by saying that the planning process is totally open, with all reports available for inspection on the planning file. The planning authority said it is “extremely disappointed” with Councillor Crowe’s allegations, describing them as “totally inappropriate” and “unjust”. A spokesperson for the council said it will be making observations on the appeal direct to …

THE future viability of an Ennis pub/restaurant that employs 40 staff is uncertain, following a decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse the retention and alteration of an outdoor smoking room with a retractable roof. Derek Gleeson, the owner of Yolo – You Only Live Once – at 40 Abbey Street, Ennis, in response to an enforcement order in March to remove the structure, had applied to Clare County Council to retain and alter the outdoor smoking room at the pub/restaurant with a traditional shop front at the smoking area, in keeping with the other traditional shop front on the premises. The council refused the development in July and this decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The corner building is a protected structure, dating from the 18th century, and is part of a terrace of listed buildings on Abbey Street, in what is an Architectural Conservation Area. According to the submission made on behalf of Mr Gleeson, “This bar/restaurant …