*Traffic at Blake’s Corner. Photograph: Bob Singer
A JUDICIAL REVIEW against the decision for a compulsory purchase order (CPO) of Blake’s Corner will be “vehemently” argued, the Chief Executive of Clare County Council has pledged.
In recent weeks, an application seeking to judicially review the decision of An Bord Pleanála confirming the CPO was submitted to the High Court in recent weeks. A judicial review is a mechanism by which an application can be made to the High Court to challenge the decision making processes of administrative bodies and lower courts.
Clare County Council’s monthly management report for December said “disappointingly but within their right to do so”, the application seeking leave to judicially review the decision announced in September was made.
“We will be strongly contesting the basis for such a review and if we are successful in same, we will be able to move forward with the project to detailed design, tender and construction. However, if the Court allows for the decision to be judicially reviewed, then the project could be held up indefinitely pending the outcome of the legal proceedings,” the reported outlined.
An update on the impact to timelines was sought by Cllr Shane Talty (FF) was sought at Monday’s meeting of the local authority.
Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling stated in response, “God knows the county and people of Ennistymon have waited long enough for the inner relief road to be sent to design, tender and construction. All I can say, there is a right of the judicial review and we will be arguing that case quite vehemently, I hope we can get to construction phase of the project next year, that continues to be corporate ambition”.
June 2020 saw the CPO issued by the Council, an oral hearing on the project was held in June 2021 with An Bord Pleanála revealing their determination in September 2022. Clare County Council’s application was approved without modification.
The proposed N67/N85 Inner Relief Road Ennistymon (Blake’s Corner) involves the construction of a new bridge approximately 80m upstream of the existing Michael Conway Bridge. The existing bridge, a protected 7-arch masonry bridge, will be pedestrianised to allow pedestrian and cyclist access only, and a plaza will be constructed at the western end. The scheme will include other enhancements to the area, including footpath improvements and enhanced crossing arrangements, landscaping, lighting and services enhancements, and other ancillary elements. The cost of the project is likely exceed €8m and take two years to complete.
Road network capacity and road safety is intended to be improved as part of the scheme while conserving and complementing the historic fabric of the town. The scheme has been developed to address the serious traffic congestion issues through Ennistymon town. A review of previous studies of the junction at Blake’s Corner, a traffic modelling assessment of the improvement options and a design of an improvement scheme have all been carried out to find the most appropriate solution to deal with the long-standing traffic problems in Ennistymon.
