The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
PROGRESS on the provision of a new primary care centre for Sixmilebridge has been stalled, following a difficulty around the purchase of the site.
It is understood that while the original contractor will not be going ahead with the development now, the planning permission at the site remains in place, and there are hopes in some quarters that another contractor can go ahead with the project in the relatively near future.
In 2019 Valley Healthcare Fund Infrastructure Investment Fund sought planning permission for a two storey primary health care facility on land between the Shannon Road and Ashview Drive in Sixmilebridge.
The way it works is that a private developer builds the facility, which then comes under the auspices of the HSE, who would provide a range of services from there.
Clare TD Joe Carey said, “The current hold up in the development of the new primary care centre in Sixmilebridge is disappointing, but I’m working to get the project back on track. I’m engaging with different stakeholders to do that.
“This is a bump on the road but I believe we can overcome it and get it built as soon as possible.”
Deputy Cathal Crowe said, “Covid has served as an important reminder to us all that there are many vital layers to our health system and it’s not all just about large hospitals such as Ennis General and UHL – community level healthcare, as per the Sláintecare model, is going to be the way forward.
“I live in close proximity to the Westbury health centre which offers multidiscipline supports to the community – antenatal appointments, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and so on.
“My local centre is a fantastic amenity and Sixmilebridge, a large town in its own right, deserves a facility just as good and all efforts need to be made to overcome this impasse in the quickest possible time.”
Councillor PJ Ryan said that the facility could be a great boost to health services in the area, as well as taking some pressure off the A & E department at University Hospital Limerick. “The surrounding area that would have benefited most would have been Sixmilebridge, Bunratty and Cratloe, it would have made a major difference around here and it would also have helped to take the pressure off of the A & E in Limerick. We were originally told that there would be two doctors based there and four nurses, all small health facilities would have been available there, you’d be able to go in there and get stitches, generally things that people go to A&E for.”
A former member of the HSE’S Regional Health Forum West, he said that questions need to be asked of why the current situation has come about. “I’d be asking serious questions of the HSE and their agents, how was this allowed to happen?”
He said that at one stage it had been expected that work on the facility would begin in the third quarter of last year, but there were a number of delays due to Covid-19. “I would be calling on the HSE to get their act together and get it back on track as soon as possible,” Councillor Ryan added.
In a statement on Wednesday the HSE said, “The HSE’s Estates division has been engaging with the developer of the proposed Primary Care Centre accommodation at Sixmilebridge. Unfortunately a legal agreement between the developer and the HSE to deliver the proposed Primary Care Centre accommodation has not been concluded. The HSE’s Estates division is therefore considering its options to re-advertise for this location. While this will likely impact on the timeframe for delivery of the project there remains a commitment to progress the project as a priority healthcare accommodation requirement for the area.”
A number of objections had been made to the proposed development, before it was granted planning by Clare County Council and An Bord Pleanála.
The Clare County Council planner’s report found that “Having regard to the commercial zoning on site and the location on the site within Sixmilebridge settlement, it is considered that the proposed development is satisfactory in principle. It is further considered that concerns raised re potential for overlooking and adverse impact on residential amenity have been reasonably addressed by the applicant and can be further dealt with by condition.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
