Tag Archives: planning

WHILE a Bord Pleanála inspector actually recommended that Clare County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for an Aldi store in Shannon be overturned, his own board have rejected his conclusion and have denied planning. It seems to be the end of the road for the proposal for the Aldi store, something that many local people would consider to be a step in the right direction for the town and a step towards developing a conventional streetscape. In his report, Inspector Rónán O’Connor wrote, “I do not consider that the provision of the convenience retail store would diminish the range of services within Shannon Town Centre but rather would be complementary to same. This would, in turn, increase the attractiveness of Shannon Town Centre with a potential reduction in vacancy rates in the town.” He found that the development would increase competition within the town, which would also be in keeping with national retail policy. There is not another alternative …

Lidl has confirmed that plans will be lodged in the coming days for a second development in Ennis. “We have worked closely with the local authority, planners and architects to ensure that our proposed mixed use development will contribute positively to the local area. The planned store, will be a new environmentally friendly build, will offer customers in the area a superior shopping experience. Alongside the store there are planned additional commercial units, one of which will likely be a creche,” said a spokesperson for the company. Lidl currently operates 195 stores nationally and employs over 5,000 people. In a recently commissioned economic report, it was found that Lidl buys over 500 million of Irish goods and services annually. In addition to this, 1.4% of Irish food and drink exports was for resale in Lidl stores around Europe.

Clare County Council has issued a decision to grant permission for the development of coastal erosion management works at, and adjacent to, Carrowmore Dunes, White Strand, Doughmore Bay and Trump International Golf Links and Hotel, Doonbeg. As per the provisions of the planning acts, any decision made may be subject to a first or third party appeal to An Bord Pleanála within four weeks of the decision date. The application was lodged on December 22, 2016 and has attracted more than 40 submissions from interested parties, including Eammon Ryan TD,  West Coast Surf Club; Irish Surf Association Ltd; Save the Waves Coalition;  Friends of the Irish Environment; community groups and individuals. The decision is subject to nine planning conditions, which include the payment of two separate planning conditions totalling €265,231. The conditions set out that public access and rights of way to the beach shall not be obstructed in any way by the proposed development. Mitigation measures outlined in the …

IN a submission to Clare County Council, relating to the further information supplied to the local authority by Trump International Golf Links regarding their planning application for coastal erosion management works, An Taisce claims that the information has not adequately addressed the ecological issues with the application. Clare County Council is due to give a decision on December 21 on the planning application, which seeks to obtain permission to construct coastal projection works on Doughmore Beach. In recent years, the resort has been hit by a number of instances of flooding. “This is largely because they are erroneously conflating the erosion of the dune frontage, as a result of the golf course stopping the dunes’ movement with the natural erosion associated with normal dune dynamics. That, in turn, has led them to claim that the do-nothing scenario will be ‘profoundly detrimental’ to the dune habitats. So the premise of all of their arguments, that the proposed walls will help the …

PLANS for a 28,000 tonne rock barrier to protect parts of the Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg have been hit by a fresh three-month delay. As a result, it is likely that a decision by Clare County Council on the planning application will not now be made until early next year. This follows the Trump family-owned firm, TIGL Ireland Enterprises Ltd seeking, and securing, a three-month extension from Clare County Council in which to respond to a raft of further information requests for the contentious plan to install a 28,000 tonne rock barrier to protect “as a matter of urgency” holes 1, 9 and 18 at the links course. The council requested the information across five pages in February and the golf resort’s deadline for replying is due to expire next Tuesday. However, ahead of the deadline, the resort has secured the extension to November 22 and the council will then have eight weeks in which to make a …

A NEW application for a major motorway service area that could employ 100 people is just around the corner, Pat McDonagh told The Clare Champion this week. The Supermac’s founder is also involved with the Barack Obama Plaza in Moneygall and the Galway Plaza off the M6 between Galway and Dublin. While a previous application for a similar development adjacent to Junction 12 at Killoo, Clarecastle, off the M18 was withdrawn, Mr McDonagh said another one is coming and he is confident it will be positively received. “We’d be very positive. We’re going to be reapplying in the next few weeks. The architects, engineers and consultants are working on it now at the moment. “The application should be submitted in the next three to four weeks. Then it has to go through the due process and it takes eight to nine weeks approximately after that. Sometimes they look for further information. It’ll be about three months or so before the …

IT is understood that the three occupied units at the food court at SkyCourt are going to close in their current location in the coming months. It is not clear as of yet why they are being closed but it is understood that the occupiers have been given notice, presumably with some other future retailers in mind. SkyCourt refused to make any comment when contacted. At this week’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District, there were claims that SkyCourt has been struggling badly in recent years. Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn said, in recent times, that “the town centre has been practically dying on its feet”. He said that when Shannon Development had its offices in the area it had made a big difference, while it has been negatively effected since its closure. Councillor Flynn said businesses are closing in the centre as it is, while he claimed Shannon Group “walked away from it”. He said he is not happy with how …

PLANS are being made for a new 50-unit housing development at Tullyvarraga, Shannon. With the property market recovering for some time now, developer John Walsh believes prices are going to increase, making such developments sustainable once again. “I hope to have planning there within 12 months and it should be ripe after that. We would start developing some time in the middle of next year.” He plans to put a total of 50 residential dwellings in place, 10 detached, 24 semi-detached and 16 apartments. While he feels current prices are generally not high enough to justify new building, he feels this will change. He also has an idea of what properties at the Tullyvarraga site should reach when they are eventually built. “There is still probably a bit left in the market for it to reach a sustainable building level. Prices for a three-bed semi at €210,000 or €215,000 would be rock-bottom. That’s the level it would need to be …