Newmarket-on-Fergus
Newmarket-on-Fergus Location and Context Newmarket-on-Fergus is located in a gently undulating landscape defined by Lough Gash (SAC and pNHA) to the west, the access road to the M18 to the south, the Mill Race River to the south-east, existing development to the north and the mature tree line and low-lying topography to the east. North of the village lies Dromoland Castle Hotel, set in ornamental grounds and woods extending over 1500 acres. Dromoland was the ancestral home of the O’Brien’s, Kings of Thomond, whose lineage goes back to Brian Boru. The most extensive hill fort in Ireland, known as Mooghaun Hill Fort, dating back to approx 500BC, can be found to the east of the Dromoland Estate. Newmarket-on-Fergus is a significant service centre in the area, offering a range of retail, commercial and community facilities, including shops, public houses, two churches, a post office, primary school, sports facilities, community hall, library and medical centre. It also boasts O’Regan Park and riverside walk. The town has the potential to expand these services for the benefit of residents both in the town and in the wider rural hinterland. The services are concentrated in the central area and around the main junction in the settlement. The town centre is designated as an Architectural Conservation Area. There are a number of established residential areas and significant additional development has taken place over recent years, with a number of small to medium sized residential developments in the town. However, there remains potential for further development in the area, particularly at key sites in close proximity to the town centre. Water is supplied to the town from the Shannon/Sixmilebridge Regional Water Supply Scheme (RWSS) with a surface water source at Castle Lake. As such, the water supply is constrained, subject to the identification by Irish Water of a method for reducing losses from the supply network and of augmenting the RWSS. While the wastewater treatment plant has capacity to cater for future development, the treated effluent is discharged to Lough Gash. Irish Water currently has plans in place to construct a new pumped rising main which would outfall to the Rine River thereby ceasing discharge of primary effluent from the existing WWTP to Lough Gash turlough due for completion in 2024. Until such time as these works are complete the availability of new waste water connections are constrained. Given the presence of the Lesser Horseshoe bat approximately 430m south-west of the closest zoned land, future development should take into consideration impacts on all bat species and their roosts which are protected under both EU and national legislation.
__________________________________________________________________________________ Draft Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029
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