Ennis Town Council yesterday agreed to rezone 85 acres of diocesan-owned land for housing and a school on the outskirts of Ennis.
The rezoning came before the nine-member council at its September meeting to facilitate the relocation of Ennis National School away from its town centre site.
The variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan includes the rezoning of the 85 acres, where it is envisaged that 590 houses will be built along with the new three-stream, 24-class school with the capacity for 707 students with a staff of 45.
Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said that by putting in place a school before housing was "planning for the future and avoiding a situation like you have in Co Meath where there are no school places for some children after all the new houses built in the area".
However, in a submission to the council on the issue, the other school based in Ennis town centre, Ennis Holy Family Senior School, expressed concern, saying the variation to the plan will have considerable demographic, environmental, sociological and infrastructural effects on the area and these effects have not been properly assessed.
At the council meeting, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said he did not agree with the relocation of the school and Ennis national should be left where it is and upgraded.
"The school needs to stay where it is to serve the needs of the town. The 2002 Census showed that less than half the people in that area of Ennis have access to a car."
