Nine members of Ennis Chamber of Commerce, who are opposed to the development of a motorway services plaza outside the town, are seeking assurances as to the credibility of letters of support submitted to the local authority.
It follows revelations, in recent weeks, that a number of the letters submitted supporting the proposed Supermacs plaza located just off the M18 were fake.
A total of 187 identical letters, largely from people in the Clarecastle area, were submitted to Clare County Council and expressed support for this multi-million euro plaza.
After it emerged that a number of these were submitted without the consent or knowledge of those named on the documents, 25 have since been formally been withdrawn.
Now, in correspondence seen by Clare FM, some of those objecting to the plaza development itself are asking the council for an assurance about the validity of the letters which remain on the planning file.
These objectors include the Old Ground, Temple Gate, Woodstock and West County Hotels; Ryan’s Centra, Donnellan’s Centra, Hogan’s Mace, the County Boutique, Woollen Market, all in Ennis, and Clarke’s Daybreak Supermarket & Petrol Station in Crusheen.
They say they’re concerned that some of individuals whose letters of support have not been formally withdrawn may as yet be unaware their names have been used to support the application.
The objectors say they’re seeking to ensure that the Planning Authority is fully confident that if the application was ever subject to a judicial review, that the planning process would not have been deemed to be compromised in any way.
The Council is expected to respond to their letter, but has previously said that processes, as laid out under law, ensure the validity of any submission by providing a right of reply to individuals to withdraw a submission if they wish.
Supermac’s has condemned the submission of false letters, and has called for a Garda investigation into it.
