Ennis Urban District Council yesterday stopped a proposed £11 million development from going ahead on one of the town's last remaining green areas by purchasing the site for £800,000. The move follows the collection of 7,000 signatures and the holding of public meetings by a local community group, Aontas na Pairce, which opposed the development.
The scheme, which would have included a hotel, a bar and restaurant and a multi-storey car park, was to have been located on a green space near the centre of the town.
Mr Tom Dowling, announcing the purchase of the land by the council, said that a proposal would now go before the UDC for development of a 2 1/2-acre site into a public park as the town's Millennium Project. end