*Kilkishen village.
AN APPEAL has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against the decision to deny planning for 61 houses in Kilkishen.
Wastewater connection issues were among the primary reasons why planning was rejected for the East Clare housing development.
Clare County Council refused the development over concerns of the development’s proposed connection to Kilkishen’s water treatment plant. At the time, a correspondence from Uisce Éireann stated that such a connection “cannot be facilitated at this time”. The water provider maintained last year that the Kilkishen plant would be unable to support a development of this size.
Issues were raised at the plant in 2012 which found that it could only support a population equivalent of 440, rising to 750. This would mean that the wastewater treatment plant could not support large developments, similar to the 61 houses planned by Sandford Properties Ltd.
Sanford Properties Limited, based in Limerick city, have appealed the council’s refusal to grant permission for a 61 dwelling development at a site on the Tulla Road, Teeronea, Kilkishen. The proposed development would have seen the construction of a mix of 2 bed, 3 bed, 4 bed and 5 bed dwellings, both single and two storey.
The planning application also proposed the re-modelling of two existing derelict dwelling houses constructed on site to a doctor’s surgery with ancillary areas and two 2-bedroom apartments overhead at first floor level.
Kilkishen resident Michael Hogan told The Clare Echo, “This development has been in for previous planning. The original guys went bust at the time that everything went bust but it went in for planning again. They were refused on the basis that there wasn’t enough capacity in our sewerage system at the time. At some stage the storm water was allowed to infiltrate into the sewerage system and that reduced our capacity. I’ve seen it where the sewerage system overflows in lower areas after very, very heavy rain. Storm water broke into the sewerage system”.
The Kilkishen man maintains that the problem could be fixed and has raised the issue with local councillors as well as Clare County Council. “I’ve asked them to investigate that but it looks like the Council at some stage seem to have difficulty in allowing that whether its cost or what I don’t know. I think that would be the answer if the storm water was separated and put into its own system that would give you the capacity for more houses”.
As to why an appeal has been lodged now, Hogan says “There’s different thoughts on that. The way the council policy seems to be is that they want to develop particular villages or towns like Scariff and Tulla, Sixmilebridge and smaller villages are probably not a priority in terms of spending money”.
A development of this size would have a huge impact on Kilkishen as Hogan is keen to point out that the area and its surrounds are a growing village. “We have so much facilities, we’re a very active community in Kilkishen. Between the sports, soccer and hurling, there’s so much amenities. We’ve our culture centre as well which has also developed. The latest one we have started up is a men’s shed to look at developing an old school that’s there, so there’s a lot of stuff happening community wise. Now we have an astroturf pitch as well which is used on a regular basis for training underage”.
He added, “You’ll find that if there isn’t future developments, the number of children will go down and the number of schools will be effected as well. There’s a lot of schools in Clare being affected at the moment because there’s no development in the smaller villages”.
While he is in favour of the development, Hogan acknowledges that there are issues with the planning. “The area will have to be looked at alright. I agree with that because the access to the site is on a bend and its directly across from the entrance to another housing estate, but that’s all manageable”.
In terms of the current applicant or developer, “That’s a bit of a mystery at the moment but I know that they have been working with our councillors. There is a local guy involved and one of the developers was London-based but they reckon that there’s somebody local involved”.
The Kilkishen native said that a number of local councillors have been involved in the development and appeal process, including Joe Cooney TD (FG). Hogan says that “Before Joe Cooney was elected as a TD, he was involved in that development. He was working with the developer I believe. That’s what we’re told anyway”.
A decision on the appeal is due from An Bord Pleanála by June 25, 2024.
