Concern for colony of rare bats puts paintball facility on hold

CONCERNS FOR a colony of the protected and rare lesser horseshoe bat in a Co Clare woodland has resulted in the county council putting on hold plans for a paint-ball gaming facility.

Plans for the development, on Coillte lands at Collaun near the east Clare village of Quin, were lodged with the council last year.

In response to the application, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht lodged a submission with the council stating that the ruins of Cullaun House, 600m from the proposed development, were home to a maternity and hibernation roost of the EUprotected lesser horseshoe bat. The department said the bat used the surrounding area for foraging.

The species – which gets its name from its distinctive horseshoe-shaped nose – is one of the world’s smallest bats.

As a result of the department’s submission, the council has put on hold the plan for the paintball facility, which was submitted by Horatio Vasiu and Stranislav Goreancschi of Cois Coille, Tralee.

The local authority said it had concerns that the proposed development could result in the fragmentation of habitat, population and breeding area of the bat, as well as those of birds and mammals.