Tulla not big enough for two nursing homes?

TWO women involved in developing a nursing home in Tulla have claimed the village is not big enough for two such facilities and have called on An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning for a second nursing home directly across from their site.

The Geraldine Cosgrove and Mary Coleman of Woodstown, Lisnagry, County Limerick have called on the board to “overturn the bad decision made by Clare County Council to allow two nursing homes directly across the road from each other in such a small village”.
Planning permission was granted to John and Ted Nugent for a 30-person nursing home in Tulla in December by Clare County Council and this represents the second such facility to be granted for the village in the last 10 months.
In the past week, Ms Cosgrove and Ms Coleman have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála objecting to the grant of planning for this new nursing home development in Tulla.
In a letter to the board, the two women, through their agent Pat Boyce of Boyce Architectural & Engineering, outline their basis for the appeal.
This document sets out that the two objectors had lodged a proposal for a nursing home in Tulla with the county council in 2009 – for which they received planning permission in April 2010.
The appellants claim in their appeal that the requirements of the local area plan have not been rigorously addressed by the applicants as they had “not adequately demonstrated that no alternative sites were available within the settlement boundary”.
“My clients do not consider that this site is in the optimum location for this development as it is not within the settlement boundary,” Mr Boyce stated.
He outlined that his clients were informed that more suitable and affordable sites outside the development boundary “would not be considered” due to their location and stressed that his clients therefore purchased a site within the settlement boundary “at a much higher cost”.
“Since they have been granted planning permission, Clare County Council has granted a second nursing home directly across the road. This development is outside the development boundary,” the appeal states.
Mr Boyce added, “Mary and Geraldine are building and managing this nursing home themselves. It will be their primary source of income”. “Ted and John Nugent are property developers and will not be running their own nursing home. To them, it is merely a development, to Mary and Geraldine it is their livelihood. Mary and Geraldine have a background in caring and running a nursing home already.”
Mr Boyce asked the board to consider a number of concerns in which he said, at a pre-planning meeting, “We were told Clare County Council would not consider a development outside the development boundary and now by granting planning reference P096-1295 they obviously have?”
“How is it fair and equitable to grant planning for a second nursing home directly across the road… surely this is not good planning?” the document continues.
The appellants asked the board to consider that the proposed development “contravenes HIQA Standards, which are underpinned by legislation” and believe that if granted the entrance to this site “will create a dangerous junction and a traffic hazard on a minor road”.
The submission concludes that the appellants are committed to proceeding with their own nursing home development but they argue that Tulla “is a small village in East Clare and does not have the population to accommodate two nursing homes. If An Bord Pleanála do not overturn this decision, Mary and Geraldine will find it difficult to go ahead with such an expensive project. All the hard work, dedication and expense that my clients have put into this project will be wasted if P09-1295 goes ahead.”
Planning permission was sought in December 2009 and subsequently granted to applicants, John and Ted Nugent care of their architects Dermot and Seán Merry of Fergus Lodge, Clonroad Bridge, Clonroadmore, Ennis for the 26-bed nursing home. The permission also covers the development of ancillary facilities together with an assisted living complex made up of four semi-detached one-bedroom single-storey units and four semi-detached two-bedroom self-contained single-storey units and an associated community room. A total of 23 conditions were attached to the planning permission.
A decision on the appeal is not expected to be forthcoming until at least the middle of May.