Local appeals holiday homes on Kerry estate

A Kenmare man has asked An Bord Pleanála to refuse Sheen Falls Estate in Co Kerry planning permission for holiday homes to "safeguard the River Sheen and its environs from both visual and ecological irreversible damage".

The 300-acre estate - between the Caha Mountains and Kenmare Bay, and which incorporates the five-star Sheen Falls Lodge hotel - is looking to add a further seven holiday homes to its courtyard development.

However, Séamus Tuohy - who has property to the north of the proposed development - says the scale of the development is excessive in a rural part of Kenmare.

He says the immediate vicinity is a wood and river land habitat and would "suffer detrimentally" if the development was granted permission.

"It can be clearly seen from a site inspection that considerable denuding of the woodlands has already taken place with the development under construction," he says in his appeal letter, written on his behalf by architectural and planning consultant Ger Murphy.

"Being of local origin and raised in Kenmare, Mr Tuohy is only too aware of the sudden flooding of the River Sheen," says the letter, adding that "portions of the land now proposed to be extended are originally part of the flood plain".

The letter says the River Sheen is prone to flash flooding during inclement weather and overflows its banks to the south.

"It is by nature a fast flowing water difficult to retain within its normal route following periods of prolonged rain.

"If significant diversification of the river took place, the consequences could be exacerbated further downstream."