Clara plans for hotel and nursing home lodged

Ambitious plans to build a hotel, nursing home, assisted living units and detached houses on a site in Clara have been lodged with Offaly County Council this week. The development is planned for a site in the Erry (Maryborough) and Kilcoursey townland, spread over 4.11 hectares. The development would include Inchmore House, a protected structure. If the ambitious project is approved, the house itself would become the hotel with 87 bedrooms and include a three-storey wing extension. Meeting and restaurant facilities would be situated in the basement of the house, with reception, bar, offices and function rooms on the ground floor, while the first and second floors would contain all en suite bedrooms. A two-storey 'glass link structure' would connect the house to the new three-storey wing. The nursing home would contain 57 bedrooms and include a kitchen, two dining rooms and delivery facilities. There would be 15 single-storey two-bedroom assisted living bungalows built in three blocks of five. While there are also plans to build four two/three-storey five-bed residential units. Access would be off the Tullamore Road. Because Inchmore House is a protected structure, a conservation report has been included with the application. It is available for viewing in Offaly County Council offices in Tullamore. The developer is Ger Handy, who owns the site and the architects are OBK Architects. Mr Handy previously applied for permission to build a large housing estate, but was refused by the council because the sewerage system in Clara had already reached full capacity. However, the council indicated that it would look favourably on any development that would bring or create employment in the town. It is believed that if the development gets the go ahead, there will be over 100 temporary jobs created in the construction phase, while many other full and part time jobs will be created once the hotel, nursing home and assisted living units are open.