Tourist office turned down

An Bord Pleanála has overturned planning permission for a Tourist Information Office at Glendalough in Co Wicklow on the grounds that it is unnecessary.

East Coast and Midlands Tourism had obtained permission from Wicklow County Council to build a 168sq m (1,808sq ft) tourist office beside the existing visitor centre with car-parking for 25 cars, office and staff facilities, and a souvenir and book shop.

However, an appeal by Martha O'Neill to An Bord Pleanála contended that the building is "completely unnecessary" and all that is required is a desk located within the existing visitor centre, similar to in New Grange.

The visitor centre has a series of interconnected spaces with exhibition space and toilet facilities for visitors. A path from the rear connects the visitor centre to the monastic site and a lower lake. The Trinity Church to the east is a national monument.

Ms O'Neill said that tourist offices were really souvenir shops with information desks and are no longer as busy as they were since the growth of internet tourism. A temporary office operated out of a prefab building in the last 15 years and opened only from mid-June to early September. She said that in 1968 permission was refused for a house on the site because it is too close to the Trinity Church and the same reasons should still apply.

East coast and Midlands Tourism argued that the tourist office has to be a certain size to provide the necessary range of services and there is not enough space in the existing visitor centre, which attracts 50,000 a year.

An Bord Pleanála decided that the tourist office was unnecessary and would result in unwarranted visual intrusion on the landscape and detract from the visual character of the area, which is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty in the Wicklow County Development Plan.