*An artist’s impression of the Post Office Field.
TWO ELECTION hopefuls in the Ennis Municipal District have criticised the manner in which the public consultation was handled for the proposed Post Office Field with one insisting they would try to disband Ennis 2040 DAC if elected.
A cost benefit analysis was undertaken by AECOM on behalf of Ennis 2040 to assess the impact of the Active Travel Benefits of the elevated boardwalk over the Post Office Field. This analysis detailed that the development of the boardwalk would cost €5.6m and result in benefits of €11.6m over a thirty year period.
Hilary Tonge (SD) attended the consultation event on Thursday evening in Waterpark House. She told The Clare Echo, “A consultation is extending info and opinions about something, what we saw in Waterpark House was a lot of photos about an imaginary boardwalk and a case study from a town in Canada”.
Questions surround the financial aspect of the project, she flagged. “They said it will pay for itself in thirty years, we’ve no idea how much money has been put into this, we don’t know the investment”.
Outlining that she is firmly opposed to building on the Post Office Field, Hilary said clearer detail is needed on how Ennis 2040 DAC will not disrupt the eco-system by building the boardwalk.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) said, “I think like a lot of 2040 DAC consultation processes they have very high glossy pictures of their ambitions but there isn’t much consultation”.
“If it is a public consultation process then the public should be able to go in and take back out of it what they see before them so that they can discuss it further and talk to their friends about it, whether they are pro it or against it that they can have a conversation around the kitchen table about it, I can’t see why you would censor what is the DAC’s great plan, it doesn’t make sense to me,” Guilfoyle commented.
He engaged with officials during the public consultation. “Of course you are being listened to but are you really being listened to, that is the difference. I’ve been involved with the 2040 DAC on their consultation for Abbey Street, when you did ask questions in a normal everyday manner there was rebuttal answers given and there wasn’t a conversation or a talk about what they were trying to do, it was nearly how dare you ask those questions and they looked around for back-up to help their stance, when people started to agree with you then they changed the subject. For public consultation you should be allowed to go in, in a respectable manner and way and say whatever you think is on your mind, be listened to and that be brought back to the process”.
When asked by The Clare Echo if he was opposed to all aspects of the Ennis 2040 Strategy, the Clarecastle man replied, “I’m not opposed to the future development of Ennis or our county at all, I’m opposed to the privatisation of the development of our town, we elect county councillors, they come from the people by the people to go on the Council to make decisions to better the town and the county. The Council itself has department after department that has built this county from the ground up so why would you go to the DAC model to further benefit the town, I’m opposed to the privatisation of public services”.
Guilfoyle added, “I would hope going forward the newly elected Council whoever they may be can look at disbanding the 2040 DAC and going forward in a different manner than upholds democracy and the will and the voice of the people”.
Tipped as a likely candidate to win a seat on the Ennis MD, Guilfoyle said he would not sit on the Board of the Ennis 2040 DAC if a seat was offered to him. “I’d be willing to try and disband the DAC, the board seats on the DAC are not understood by the public or even by a candidate like myself. We don’t know when they change, the frequency of the board when they change, I would not go onto something that I am not fully aware of, hopefully going forward the DAC may not be part of the planning of the town of Ennis”.
