*Kevin Corrigan. Photograph: Paul Corey
ENNIS 2040 DAC’s chief operating officer has pledged to take on board feedback and comments from the public to their plans.
Large turnouts gathered at public consultation events in Ennis, Barefield and Clarecastle this week to get their first look at what is proposed for the Abbey Street car park as part of the Ennis 2040 spatial and economic strategy.
An investment of €15m and the delivery of 142 permanent jobs in the county town have been calculated for Abbey Street by Ennis 2040 DAC. The development aims to deliver a corporate headquarters for Ennis with an anchor retail store, public plaza and boardwalk which will link to Harvey’s Quay and the Post Office Field.
Ennis 2040 DAC have said there will be a return on investment after six years through additional income generated. An indicative timeline produced by Ennis 2040 DAC expects the project to be delivered by 2026. The site area is 6,204m2.
For Tuesday’s event in The Temple Gate Hotel, members of the Ennis 2040 DAC Board were dotted along the Temple Gate Hotel fielding queries from the public and retailers.
Kevin Corrigan, COO of Ennis 2040 DAC told The Clare Echo, “We’ve had a huge turnout, because it is the first time people have seen it we’re getting all kinds of reactions from people who have concerns about parking to people who are really pro-looking at the future and the future of the kids, that is the whole reason we’re having a public consultation is to get their reaction and get everybody’s feedback. We’d encourage anyone to go to the public consultation events”.
When asked what has been tweaked from the initial plans following public feedback to date, Corrigan stated, “We’re constantly talking to people about these things and learning about what works for the town and what doesn’t, there is an evolution of design as part of those discussions with everybody, we’ve tried to maximise the opportunity for the town by having seventy percent of the site as public realm, plazas and nice landscaping which is certainly a very positive thing for the town”.
Parking and loss of spaces has cropped up as a big concern relating to building on the car park in Abbey St. “It’s going to be a couple of years before we get through the planning process so we have two or three years to fix those parking issues that are there at the moment. Small towns and regional towns in Ireland are changing fast, there’s public bus services coming in and cycling lanes, there’s more pedestrian access via pedestrian bridges and the Post Office field so our towns are changing and parking is going to change as part of that. There’s a lot of provision coming down the track and Clare County Council will be announcing those in the near future”.
In November it emerged that there is uncertainty within the National Transport Authority on funding the Ennis Town Bus Service. Its delivery is viewed as critical to all aspects of the Ennis 2040 strategy. “I think it is essential to the town and is an absolute requirement for the town to move onto the next stage of development for everything, if we want a sustainable future then this is an absolute requirement,” Kevin said.
He insisted relations between Ennis 2040 DAC and retailers in the town were cordial. “We never had any intensity with the local traders, we didn’t have anything to show them, the first opportunity that we could have a public consultation we’ve had it and we’re welcoming the feedback”.
Members of the public were encouraged by Corrigan to have their say. “It’s also online, if you go onto the Clare County Council website, there’s a have your say part of that and we’d encourage everyone to submit their forms, we’ll sit down with our design team in the next couple of months and try incorporate as much as possible”.
This input will count, he said. “We’ve gone to the effort of having three days of public consultation, we’ve made sure people have access in the evenings to have their say, we will make every effort to incorporate as much of the feedback and comments as we possibly can”.
