Urgency of report stepped up as car veers off road at Blake’s Corner

THE planning process for changes to a controversial North Clare corner is likely to begin later this year, according to a senior council official.

North Clare councillor Martin Conway this week called on Clare County Council to “immediately” publish a report in relation to Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon after a car went down the steps at the junction on Tuesday afternoon.
Local lobby group Save Ennistymon’s Heritage, which hopes to protect the iconic shop fronts of Blake’s and Linnane’s, has also called on the council to publish the report.
However, a senior engineer with the council told The Clare Champion the report cannot currently be published but would be made available to the public after the planning process had begun.
“The episode on Tuesday is just another example of the litany of incidents that have happened over the last few years at Blake’s Corner. Thankfully, nobody was injured but unfortunately a number of people have been hurt as a result of being pushed or falling down the steps and I know of a number of examples of this. I have said it before and I will say it again, someone will be killed if this is not resolved,” Councillor Martin Conway stated.
“In the first incidence, I call on Clare County Council to publish its report, which has already been promised to the local councillors immediately, and secondly I would call on all stakeholders to sign up to the findings of this report in order to move this forward. Everybody now needs to stand back and act responsibly. While heritage and tradition are important, the preservation of human life is far more important,” he went on.
According to the local authority’s senior transportation engineer, Tom Tiernan, a conservation engineering report on the corner cannot be released now and will not be publicly available until after the planning process begins.
“The conservation engineering report remains in draft format and can’t be published while this is the case. Ultimately, this report will be among the documents to make up the formal planning application to be submitted in respect of the proposed junction improvement and treatment of the buildings,” explained Mr Tiernan.
“All pertinent documents including this one will be available for public perusal when the aforementioned planning is submitted,” he added.
In a written response to councillors at the March meeting of North Clare councillors, Mr Tiernan said, “The primary recommendation from the report proposes careful deconstruction of the buildings and reconstruction of the front portions of same set back in the site.”
However, in response to questions from The Clare Champion, he said the cost of this aspect of the project “hasn’t been examined in detail to date”.
Mr Tiernan did, however, say a decision on the future of the junction and when work will begin on it will “ultimately emerge via the formal planning process”.
“The planning process should commence later this year. Commencement of work will depend of outcome and timing of the planning process,” he concluded.