*Ennis 2040.
OUTSIDE Tierney’s Cycles on Abbey Street in Ennis, a noticeboard erected on the footpath reads, “Save our beautiful town from the madness & dictatorship of Clare County Council & Ennis 2040 DAC team”.
Mayo native Kevin Corrigan is the man at the wheel of Ennis 2040 in his position as Chief Operating Officer, and when asked if he feels uncomfortable walking down the street passed that sign – or if he feels there is a figurative target on his head – Kevin chuckles.
“I definitely walk down the street. Thankfully we live in a democracy and everyone’s entitled to their opinion and I suppose we’re in the listening phase of what we’re doing but at the end of the day we’ve got to deliver for the future of Ennis,” comes his response.
“Going back to when the [Ennis 2040] study started in 2018, there was a lot of consultation done during that time, these were international experts. It was voted on by Clare County councillors three times, so the plan was adopted. There was €10m loaned and it was put in the County Development Plan. It’s not like this has surprised anyone and it was dreamed up overnight”.
Ennis 2040 is the most topical issue among business owners in the county town, with a public meeting last month attended by close to 200 people concerned about projects in the pipeline.
From that meeting, a voluntary group called Save Ennis Town was established bidding to have plans scrapped from the Ennis 2040 DAC to remove public car-parking in Abbey Street and Parnell Street. Meanwhile, plans to construct a €1.1m interim carpark at Francis Street – while a part 10 planning application was in place for the construction of 45 residential units on the site – were also scrapped following a public protest attended by more than 100 people who were upset about the demolition of six cottages. The matter was also raised in Dáil Eireann by Clare TD Michael McNamara (IND) who voiced his opposition to the cottages being knocked, comments which Mr Corrigan said were “unhelpful”.
However, Mr Corrigan remains steadfast in his approach and plans for the Francis Street residential units will continue in the form of a Part 8 application to Clare County Council. Meanwhile, Ennis 2040 DAC plan to lodge an application for the construction of a mixed-use retail development in Abbey Street Car Park before the end of 2023.
In an interview with The Clare Echo, Mr Corrigan said that the development of 45 residential units is a step in the right direction in terms of addressing the local housing crisis, “In the near future we’ll be appointing a design team to bring [the Francis Street Development] to fruition with a planning application before the end of the year for 45 inter-generational housing units on the site as part of a mixed-use development with some other facilities as well.
“That will be a major game changer for Ennis; if you look on Daft.ie at the moment there are around 70 properties for sale in Ennis and they range from hundreds of thousands of euro down to a site.
“It was great news for Ennis that it is now an affordable housing location and we want to develop that in conjunction with Clare County Council as an affordable housing project which would be very sustainable. It would not just be for young people but also inter-generational people who are trying to get on the housing list, so it’s a very good news story for Ennis. We’re looking at €15m of a project and hopefully we’ll be breaking ground there after planning in late 2024 and be turning keys in early 2026”.
Meanwhile, Save Ennis Town last week released a statement highlighting concerns about erosion of car parking in Ennis town. They claimed there is currently a deficit of 1,500 spaces in the town and if the Abbey Street development proceeds it would remove a further 200.
Mr Corrigan notes that car parks at the old Boys National and the Cloister will be developed in the near future, but he admits, “It’s understandable that they’re concerned about it. Absolutely, and there’s a lot of work being done by Clare County Council in the background around parking and parking studies. Recently, on a number of occasions that number of 1,500 was refuted, backed by statistics by both Clare County Council and some county councillors. Understandably enough people are concerned about parking spaces and understandably enough people are concerned about change but change is coming regardless.
“A Climate Action legislation has gone through the Dáil last year, studies will be starting on every town centre and city centre in the country and have to be completed by summer of 2024. That’s going to bring a raft of change around car parking and traffic through town centres, whether Ennis 2040 does anything or not.”
Mr Corrigan outlined that planning for the Abbey Street development will be lodged late this year or early next year and has urged people to hold judgement until plans have been presented. “That project and that site has been earmarked to drive economic development in the town centre, it is designed to increase footfall in the Abbey Street area, increase footfall in the streets leading to the Abbey Street area. It would be a bonus for every business to have additional people walking past their door through good times and bad. If people are coming to Ennis to shop because of a large anchor retail tenant or because there’s offices there with 50-70 employees walking around at lunchtime and going for post-work drinks, living in the town, that’s of much more benefit to the town than other suggestions.
“Everything we’re doing here is about increasing the economic viability of the town and securing the future of the town. We’ll have full public consultation in Q3 this year, it will probably sit in that planning process for a year or 18 months, maybe two years… those other car parking facilities will already have been delivered before we start construction or any kind of disruption around Abbey Street”.
