*An artist’s impression of the Plaza.
PAT MCDONAGH’S plans for a €10m Barack Obama style Supermac’s motorway plaza outside Ennis off the M18 motorway linking Galway to Limerick are being stalled by a High Court challenge.
MD of Supermac’s, Mr McDonagh secured planning permission for the development at Kilbreckan, Doora outside Ennis last October that brought to an end an almost eight year long planning saga.
However, Mr McDonagh’s battle to advance the project to construction stage continues as a chartered civil engineer from the Burren village of Kilfenora is seeking to challenge the An Bord Pleanála permission in the High Court by way of judicial review.
Michael Duffy is claiming that the Appropriate Assessment, which assesses potential adverse effects of projects on Special Areas of Conservation (SCA), lodged with the planning application is flawed and therefore planning permission should not have been granted.
Separately Mr Duffy is also challenging in the High Court a recent An Bord Pleanála planning permission to Glenveagh Homes for a €65m 289 unit residential scheme on the outskirts of Ennis.
The Supermac’s Judicial Review application case has already been adjourned a number of times in the High Court and a preliminary High Court hearing is scheduled next week to determine if Mr Duffy has an arguable case against the grant of permission.
In an interview this week, Mr Duffy said that his expertise is the treatment of wastewater connected to new schemes and contends that there is an “environmental issue” relating to how the Pat McDonagh application plans to deal with its waste water.
Mr Duffy said that what is planned “is bad for the town of Ennis and think it will become a destination like the Obama Plaza has. I think it is a bad planning decision, but that is just my opinion and has nothing to do with the grounds in the High Court case”.
He said, “Okay, people might say that I am just an objector. I don’t mind what people say to be honest with you because people don’t know what is going on”.
Mr Duffy said that his bottom line is to ensure better water quality and that new developments are built property and treat wastewater in the correct way.
When asked to comment, Pat McDonagh declined to comment ahead of the case coming before the court next week.
Plans were first lodged for a motorway plaza by Supermacs in December 2014 that was turned down by An Bord Pleanála in 2016 and Clare County Council granted planning permission for the current scheme in December 2020. This permission was upheld by An Bord Pleanála last October.
Speaking when planning was granted last October, Mr McDonagh said the plaza will lead to the same level of job creation as the Barack Obama Plaza at Moneygall at around 130 jobs and also an additional 100 construction jobs for a nine month construction period.
At that time, Mr McDonagh said that he hoped the plaza would be open for the 2023 Christmas period – however that was before Mr Duffy initiated his court proceedings against the An Bord Pleanála grant of permission.
The board granted planning permission for the scheme after concluding that the proposed development would meet a need for motorway services serving cars and HGVs at this strategic intersection at two national roads.
The board concluded that the proposal would not give rise to an over-proliferation of private off-line service facilities at national road junctions, would not negatively impact on the level of service and carrying capacity of the national road network.
The board also determined the scheme would not result in the creation of a retail destination that would negatively impact upon the existing settlement.
A previous Supermacs plaza application was mired in controversy after it emerged in 2018 that bogus letters of support were lodged with Clare County Council. At the time, Supermacs stated that it was ‘horrified’ to learn about the bogus letters from the media “and disowns the actions taken and wants to distance itself completely from them”.
