A recently published and ambitious €400m masterplan for lands north of Shannon Town Centre, Co Clare by Murray Ó Laoire Architects, in association with property consultants DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald and consulting engineers White Young Green, has had very extensive coverage in the printed and electronic media.
Shannon is the only 20thC planned town in the Republic of Ireland. It was built in the 1960s on reclaimed marshland alongside Shannon Airport and Shannon Free Zone industrial estate.
Clare County Council Senior Executive Planner, John Bradley stated:
"The completed Masterplan contains an overall vision, planning framework and design guidance on the best potential development of the lands as an extension of the town centre area in Shannon"
The Masterplan primarily seeks to guide and facilitate the future development of the centre of Shannon Town, as identified in the South Clare Economic Corridor Local Area Plan 2003. MÓLA Director Hugh Murray said that the:
“main preoccupation of the public submissions was to create a living town centre with mixed use”.
Among the proposals set out in the newly drafted master plan is the provision of a new main street, pedestrianised shopping precinct, town square, Civic Arts Centre, hotel, three-hectare civic park, primary school, medical care facility, school of enterprise and a light rail link.The proposals also include underground car parking spaces, a network of pedestrian and cycling routes as well as higher building design standards and building technology to achieve the greatest energy efficiency. It is estimated that the plan for the 90-acre town centre development will create up to 1,000 jobs over an extended time frame of up to 10-15 years.
The Shannon Masterplan which was was unveiled on 31st January 2008 at the Oakwood Arms Hotel in Shannon is currently on public display in the town. The Masterplan will then be brought before the elected members of Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council for approval. Clare County Council will then commence the formal processes to give statutory backing to the Masterplan.
You can also view, for free, a printed copy of this publication by calling in to the Economic Development & Planning Department or purchase it from
Clare County Council,
Áras Contae an Chláir,
New Road,
Ennis,
Co. Clare
The masterplan is also available from the Clare County Council website:
http://www.clarecoco.ie/news/Shannon_Masterplan_Available.html.