*Donal Ó hÁiniféin with plans for the expansion outside Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg. Photograph: Natasha Barton
AN ENNIS PRIMARY SCHOOL principal has said the planning system has been misused.
A single objection to Clare County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg’s two storey-extension has been made to An Bord Pleanála by a local resident. With a peak of 481 students in the past five years, the Gaelscoil has 465 students enrolled for September with a current staff of 31.
In October, the green light was given by the Council for the for the development of six classrooms, a general purpose hall, two SEN classrooms and two ball courts as well as additional carparking and other associated works. The plans included the creation of the first mainstream school in Ennis having pre-school ASD units. A proposal for a bus turning area along the side of Glenina pitch was not permitted by the local authority.
This decision has been appealed by a Glenina resident who previously lodged an objection when the plans were lodged with the Council. Twelve residents had supported the initial appeal but the objection to An Bord Pleanála is signed by a single appellant. The appeal argues “traffic problems and anti-social behaviour are problems that already exist” in the area and the proposed development will add to this. “Trucks and diggers and building traffic will be in and out of the estate for a period of 18 months. This is a residential area were people work from home and work shift work and are entitled to live in a peaceful atmosphere”. Overlooking, blocking of light and noise levels were other issues flagged. No formal objection has been voiced by the local residents association.
An Bord Pleanála have indicated they hope to announce a decision by March but sticking to schedules has been an issue within the planning authority for some time. Schools across the country have faced delays of a year to eighteen months for decisions in similar instances.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg principal, Donal Ó hÁiniféin outlined that their development now faces the risk of being pushed back a year. “The big issue with us going to An Bord Pleanála at this point is not the two or three months that have already gone by or the two or three months to come even if we do receive a good decision, we cannot go to tender and the timetabling of our development is put back at least a year because the hard play areas that need to be developed must be done in a period when the school is closed and we were hoping that would happen in summer 2023 which meant the rest of the school all becomes a construction zone, because of the timing required it would mean we can’t go to tender. When this becomes a construction zone, the children will be entering at one side of the school and exiting at another, our play area will be then up another level on the grass, it really has a massive impact”.
According to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland Chartered Surveyors, the national annual rate of construction price inflation is now running at 14% adding an estimated extra €1m to the Gaelscoil development which was already set to be in the region of €6-7m. “It’s going to cost the tax payer all of us an extra million or so at least, it will also cost our school community because of the delay, we’re paying for a percentage of our new halla, I wouldn’t like to put a figure on that at the moment but we’re talking tens of thousands extra which is money that our families can’t afford”.
Ruan based Donal said there had been “very positive engagement” with the Residents Association before the planning application was made. “We were surprised that there was some observations or objections made to Clare County Council but they were dealt with by Clare County Council. We were shocked then to see there was a single appellant to An Bord Pleanála which puts our plans back, because the school is not growing and we’re replacing sub-standard accommodation, because we’re hoping to be the first mainstream school in Ennis to open pre-school ASD units for children which is badly needed, it would have six students in each unit, we already have an excellent pre-school unit in St Clare’s a special school but ours would be the first mainstream school, that facility is required but it puts it back another period now”.
Concerns raised by the appellant have been addressed, Donal insisted, both in their response to An Bord Pleanála and in engagement with local residents. “The traffic issue is one that is common to all schools but we’re involved in Safe Routes to School, we’re extremely proactive, we agreed with the residents and the appellant that we need to work together to ensure the traffic is reduced and our ultimate aim is to not just reduce it but eliminate traffic into the Gleninagh estate and making sure all of our children as part of the Safe Routes with the development of a cycle lane from the Tulla Rd possibly through Corrovorrin, we’re using the Ivy Hill access with parents parking in adjacent estates and walking to school and doing that responsibly. The school is surrounded by estates. We have our walking bus from the swimming pool every single day of the year, hail, rain or snow and that has been very successful, we hope to have another walking bus from the Tulla Rd side in the New Year but that needs to be done in cooperation with the residents”.
He added, “The overlooking and overshadowing. There is no overlooking, there is one side window which can be opaqued out so that is not an issue. The overshadowing is really from a winter solstice summer solstice perspective is really not an issue either, we believe, in fact all of the houses overshadow each other at some point during the year and depending on the height of the sun, the science says this is not an issue. The other issue is about the anti-social behaviour and using the planning process is not the way to address these issues. We live in a free country, people can have legitimate gripes and concerns, I don’t think the planning process is the proper forum with which to be trying to address some of these issues, that is really disappointing”.
Building all going well had been due to start in the summer with initial plans to evaluate tenders over the Christmas period and the appointment of a contractor in February scrapped due to the setback. “That was the plan but that is in jeopardy at the moment,” Donal conceded. “My concern is that this could push it back at least twelve or eighteen months, if it’s twelve months there’s that cost and if it’s eighteen months there’s an extra cost, it could even be further depending on the sequencing even if we get a positive story in March, it’s unlikely we could be in a position in June after having all the tenders and the waiting phase that follows all of that before you have construction traffic on site to develop the hard-play area during this summer, that is most unlikely that it will happen next summer which means you have got to plan in a different manner to start the following year or to try do something similar during a Christmas break and it’s not feasible I don’t think. All of this could be avoided”.
Ó hÁiniféin concluded, “It is a lose lose scenario for everybody, we lose because our project is delayed and the children lose because they can’t avail of a proper GP facility, the ASD children lose because they don’t have an ASD facility in a mainstream school in Ennis, the taxpayer loses because the cost of the school goes up by a million or a million and a half, the school community loses because it costs them a lot more and the appellant it seems have very little to gain”.
