*An artist’s impression of the Supermac’s Plaza in Doora
A FRESH hurdle has been placed in the way of the planned October opening of the Supermac’s Plaza on the outskirts of Ennis.
Campaign group Friends of the Irish Environment are seeking a judicial review over Uisce Éireann’s recent connection agreement for the Supermac’s Plaza at junction 12 of the M18 at Kilbreckan in Doora.
Should Friends of the Irish Envionment succeed with their legal action, it could plunge developments all over Ireland into doubt unless major improvements are made to the sewage infrastructure nationwide.
Over €10m has already been invested by Supermac’s in the plaza, construction commenced at the beginning of May with recruitment underway for the 120 jobs that will be created for its planned October opening.
Supermac’s have said the legal challenge “undermines the integrity of the planning system” and that the plaza has already been “one of the most intensely scrutinised planning applications ever brought forward in the region”.
In its statement outlining its reasons for mounting the court action against Uisce Éireann, Friends of the Irish Environment said it wants to prevent a legal precedent where “overloaded plants are allowed to take more waste”, putting Irish rivers at risk.
Clareabbey’s wastewater treatment plant is already “overloaded,” the group argued. Friends of the Irish Environment, which is represented by seasoned environmental regulation firm Fred Logue Solicitors, has included the Attorney General among the defendants to the case because of the potential national implications of the challenge.
Tony Lowes, director of Friends of the Irish Environment, said, “Our case is simple. Irish Water must not connect new developments to a sewage plant when it cannot legally treat the waste. The people and our rivers deserve better”.
As well as the Attorney General, McDonagh and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been named as notice parties to the case.
Supermac’s in a statement to The Clare Echo outlined, “Supermac’s notes with concern the proposed judicial review by Friends of the Irish Environment regarding the connection agreement with Irish Water for the new Plaza at Junction 12 on the M18.
“This project has already been the subject of detailed consideration and a full judicial review. In September of last year, the High Court rejected similar arguments and confirmed the decisions of Clare County Council and An Bord Pleanála. The judgement noted that there was no evidence to support the suggestion that the treated water from the Plaza would adversely affect the output from the Clareabbey treatment plant. The Plaza at Junction 12 is one of the most intensely scrutinised planning applications ever brought forward in the region. Over the past ten years, it has been the subject of countless environmental and planning assessments, reviewed in detail by the relevant authorities, and ultimately confirmed by the High Court”.
According to the fast-food chain, the decision to launch a judicial review at this stage was hard to comprehend. “It is difficult to understand why, after a decade of scrutiny and with the project now substantially completed, a third party who has not been involved until now, would seek to challenge decisions that have already been conclusively dealt with. Such actions undermine the integrity of the planning system, which is designed to provide certainty once decisions have been made and upheld at the highest levels. Supermac’s has invested over €10 million in the Plaza at Junction 12 to date. The development is due to open at the end of October, will create 120 jobs, and will provide vital services for motorists and communities in the Midwest region. We have always complied fully with the statutory process and will continue to do so. However, we believe it makes a mockery of the system if projects can be endlessly delayed by repeated challenges long after decisions have been made, tested, and confirmed”.
In October, the High Court dismissed the judicial review application against the decision of An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for the motorway service station on the M18 outside Ennis. This was the fourth planning application made by Supermac’s for the development of a plaza at junction 12 of the M18 at Kilbreckan in Doora.
An Bord Pleanála in 2022 upheld a decision by Clare County Council to grant permission. The development was stalled when chartered civil engineer, Michael Duffy from Kilfenora, brought a judicial review proceedings before the High Court seeking to overturn the decision.
