Church hoping for massive windfall from town site sale

The Catholic church in Ennis has made a bid to secure a massive financial windfall in connection with a substantial landholding it owns in the town.

This follows Ennis parish employing consultants to make a submission to Clare County Council calling on the local authority to promote lands the church owns to allow a major retail development proceed.

There already appears to be interest from a major retailer in developing a new store, with Aldi confirming it is seeking to construct a second store in Ennis.

In a separate submission on the review of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan, Aldi has called on the council to identify suitable potential sites for retail development.

The submissions came before the council at its June meeting yesterday.

In the submission lodged on behalf of Ennis parish by Paddy Coleman & Associates, the consultants state that the site currently occupied by Ennis National School on the Kilrush Rd “is ideal and should be promoted by the council through the Ennis and Environs Development Plan to cater for the identified retail deficiency” in Ennis.

The parish states that the land will be available in the short term when it is vacated by Ennis NS for a school under construction at Ashline, expected to open in September.

The submission states that the other landowners of the proposed site are all interested in its development.

The consultants claim that “the close proximity of the site to the town centre will allow for interaction of pedestrians between shopping areas, while the site can be linked effectively with the existing town centre so that there is likely to be a commercial synergy”.

The consultants claim inclusion of the site within the Ennis town centre boundary would create a new street that could be an organic extension of the town centre.