An Bord Pleanála yesterday granted planning permission to contentious plans for a €38 million expansion of the University of Limerick campus across the Shannon into Co Clare.
The plans for a student village and a bridge to service the development are part of a much larger master plan for a 100-acre site, which will also include a nursing school for 600 students, a postgraduate school for the performing arts, three research institutes and further accommodation for an additional 1,000 students.
The proposal encountered stiff opposition from the university's own Environmental Society, the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board and the Limerick District Anglers' Association.
The fisheries board and anglers' association's focused on the impact the proposed bridge would have on salmon habitats. However, the fisheries board and anglers withdrew their opposition last March. Part of the agreement reached with the university included dumping boulders in the river to alter water flow to facilitate fishing in the area.
The appeals board ruled that the proposal would be in accordance with the proper planning and development of the area. However, Ms Nancy Serrano of the Environmental Society, stated that "this is a piecemeal development which is set to destroy this area of the Shannon". Ms Serrano said the society will be seeking legal advice.
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