Tag Archives: planning

AN Bord Pleanála have told the High Court it will not oppose an appeal to the decision to grant planning permission for a €1.2 billion data centre campus on the outskirts of Ennis. Two groups, Friends of the Irish Environment and Futureproof Clare have banded together with three Ennis residents seeking a judicial review of the decision to grant planning permission for the development proposed by Art Data Centres Ltd and given the green light by An Bord Pleanála last April. This week it was confirmed that the planning board is no longer opposing the action and the court has been asked for an an adjournment for the developers to consider their response. The court was informed the board would not be opposing the applicant’s claim to quash the planning decision having regard to the circumstances of the case particularly pleas advanced that “the Board erred in law in failing to consider adequately the environmental effects of the proposed developments on …

A challenge against the granting of planning permission for a €10 million Barrack Obama Plaza-style motorway service station just outside of Ennis has been dismissed by the High Court. The court’s decision comes a decade after an Ennis plaza was first proposed by Supermac’s managing director Pat McDonagh and paves the way for construction to go ahead. This was the fourth planning application made by the fast food supremo for the development at Junction 12 of the M18 at Kilbreckan, Doora, with An Bord Pleanála in 2022 upholding a decision by Clare County Council to grant permission. However, the development was stalled when Kilfenora civil engineer, Michael Duffy, brought a judicial review proceedings before the High Court seeking to quash the An Bord Pleanála decision. Mr Justice David Holland dismissed the proceedings this week, rejecting Mr Duffy’s complaint that An Bord Pleanála “failed to have regard to or engage with his submissions”. In a statement to The Clare Champion Mr …

A DECISION on plans for a revamp of an Ennis filling station and former convenience store which will transform what has been described as “an eyesore in the landscape” have been put on hold as Clare County Council have raised some concerns over the plans. Planning permission is being sought by Catherine Fitzpatrick for the redevelopment of the Tulla Road Service Station. According to documents lodged with the plans the proposal will result in a “well managed and safe commercial building in place of what is a haphazard development”. However the planning authority has sought further information on the proposals stating what has been provided is “insufficient” to make a decision. The applicant has six months to respond to the request. The plans include the demolition of shed buildings to the back of an existing unused convenience store and to demolish sections of the store. New extensions are planned along with internal alterations and refurbishment works to include a proposed …

Residents in East Clare are celebrating a planning victory after winning a judicial review overturning planning permission for a controversial mast proposed for Scariff. Eoin Brady of FP Logue LLP Solicitors, took judicial review proceedings on behalf of East Clare residents challenging planning permission granted to Eircom Limited in January 2023. This involved the replacement of a 12 metre wooden pole with a 21 metre high telecommunications monopole together with antennas, dishes and associated telecommunications equipment, enclosed by security fencing at Connacht Road, Scariff. The Bord Pleanála order for the telecoms mast was quashed and the matter has been sent back to the board for further consideration. The site is an existing Eir facility and communications exchange to the north east of Scariff, which includes an existing single-storey building with two existing monopole telecommunication structures located within the site, one to the rear and north side of the building, the other to the side and east of the current building. …

THE development of a second Lidl store in Ennis has been put on hold as separate appeals have been lodged to An Bord Pleanala, including one by the supermarket giant itself. An appeal has also been made by retailer representative group The Retail Grocery Dairy & Allied Trades Association (RGDATA) who say the decision to grant planning permission should be overturned. Last month Clare County Council granted planning permission to Lidl Ireland for a €20 million mixed-use development at the junction of the Clare Road and Tobarteascain Road. As well as a new store, the plans included 20 residential apartments, a café and two commercial units. According to Lidl, the development would create 30 local jobs along with 100 more during construction. However, Lidl has appealed against conditions of planning, including one which places restrictions on the use of the accommodation units. Lidl have also disputed a Special Development Contribution of €325,000 describing it as “not warranted and considered excessive”. Meanwhile …

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a proposed €450 million data centre in Ennis, currently awaiting a decision by An Bord Pleanala, featured on an episode of acclaimed BBC series Panorama this week. On Monday BBC One aired the programme which included filming in several Irish locations relevant to the growth in data centre operations and planning applications in Ireland. The programme questioned the cost of using more data in terms of the increase in emissions and use of water in several countries including the US and Ireland. Ireland already has over 70 data centres in operation which consume more than 13% of national electricity. At least 30 more have been granted planning permission. Filming took place in Dublin as well as Ennis at the 145 acre site where Clare County Council granted permission to Art Data Centres for the development which has faced opposition. The planning decision has been appealed by local groups and residents, and a decision is due from an …

THE development of Clare’s first MRI unit is being planned for Ennis by a leading provider of diagnostic imaging. At the moment patients in need of MRI scans have to travel outside Clare, with the nearest units in Limerick and Galway. Alliance Medical is seeking planning permission to allow for the development of an MRI diagnostic unit at the newly opened Primary Care Centre situated at the former Braid’s site on Station Road. The planning application seeks a change in use of an already permitted ground floor cafe/coffee shop unit, which is currently vacant, to medical use. The company has been given permission by the site’s owners Valley Healthcare to make the planning application to Clare County Council. A planning statement prepared by Coakley O’Neill on behalf of the applicant and lodged with the application outlines that Ennis, as the county’s key town “is ideally suited” to provide these facilities and “within Ennis, the newly opened primary care centre is …

TEACHERS and staff at St Flannan’s College have voiced opposition to plans for the development of a €25 million 100-bed community nursing unit on land used as playing grounds by the Ennis secondary school. According to a statement issued by the staff of St Flannan’s the proposal “will have a seriously negative impact” on the student population. “The green field site in St Flannan’s College is the last remaining site of its kind in Ennis. Urban sprawl is taking up much more of our green spaces each year. Once this land is built upon it will be gone forever,” it states. The teachers and staff have detailed reasons for their opposition to the plans including that during the academic year many teams of various sports regularly train on the pitches. “With so many students on the fields at any one time all our field space is utilised, including much of the space that is suggested for development under the proposed …