Plan for female-only rehab centre run by religious group in Waterford on hold after objections 

Plans for the centre have received support from the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinane, who endorsed the project at a public meeting in 2019.

Plans have been put on hold for a female-only addiction treatment centre to be run by a new religious community in west Waterford following objections from local residents.

An appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against the decision of Waterford City and County Council to grant planning permission for the residential care centre at Cladagh, 4km east of the village of Clashmore, Co Waterford.

The facility, which will cater for up to nine female residents, will operate as a closed community overseen by three nuns or carers on a 24/7 basis.

The treatment centre is being planned by a Catholic religious group called the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which want to convert an existing dormer bungalow into a residential care centre containing nine en-suite bedrooms.

The group also secured permission to build an oratory and a three-bedroom house to accommodate the nuns who would operate the facility. 

A total of 11 third-party submissions from local residents were made on the planning application with some parties now appealing the council’s decision to approve the project.

Locals expressed concern that the proposed development will accommodate “physically, psychologically and emotionally troubled persons” who might pose a threat to local residents.

Security concerns

They claimed they had very real security concerns about the centre and believed vulnerable people could be treated better in a centre located in a larger urban area.

They also raised questions if the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary had the necessary qualifications or experience to run the facility and what oversight would be provided by the HSE and the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

While sympathetic to the background of people who might use the addiction treatment centre, locals also voiced concern that it could attract undesirable persons such as drug dealers.

“This is an urban problem being transferred to a rural area,” observed one objector.

Locals also expressed concern that the treatment centre would detract from the tourism potential of the nearby St Declan’s Way pilgrim route.

It was claimed that some parents had warned they would remove their children from the nearby Ballycurrane National School if the treatment centre was allowed to open.

Short-term residential treatment

In its application, the religious community said it was proposing a short-term residential treatment centre for women in the early stages of recovery from addiction.

While most stays would be short, the group said the maximum time spent in the facility would be 26 weeks.

It stated residents would not leave the buildings initially but would have access to the gardens under the supervision of a guardian as their recovery continued.

The group said women using the facility would be offered “training, competence-based learning, and life skills”. 

It also claimed the rural setting was essential to provide the required level of “isolation and insulation” to aid in the recovery and healing as drugs were too readily available in towns and villages.

The group said residents also needed to be removed from people they hurt or those who had hurt them when they were going through low points in their lives.

It said the oratory which is designed for residents' use only could be used for hosting family visits.

Waterford City and County Council accepted that the proposed use of the site was suited to a rural location given its “isolation and insulation” model.

Council planners said the county development plan neither permitted nor precluded the site being used for an addiction treatment centre.

Plans for the centre have received support from the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinane, who endorsed the project at a public meeting in 2019.

A ruling on the appeal is due before the end of June 2022.