Holiday homes may be demolished

Fifty-two holiday homes may have to be demolished because they do not comply with planning permission.

The two-storey houses, at an advanced stage of construction, are located on an elevated site in Co Tipperary close to the Rock of Cashel and the N8 Dublin-Cork road.

Work on the development stopped last month after planning officials from South Tipperary Co Council issued an enforcement notice against Liam Campion of Campion Construction Ltd, a company based at Borris-in-Ossory, Co Laois.

Mr Campion was given a deadline of last Thursday, June 21st, to cease all development on the site, remove the 52 houses, and restore the land to its condition prior to the commencement of the development.

Planning official Marie McGivern said "the works had not been carried out in compliance with planning permission and the development was not in accordance with the drawings and detailed plans submitted by the developer".

Council officials have visited the site and confirmed that work has stopped but the 52 houses have not been demolished.

The houses have been built on a 15-acre site at Ballypadeen, a townland situated one mile from Cashel town centre where Mr Campion has received planning permission to build an international trade centre, an international arbitration centre, a 120-room aparthotel (with restaurants, lounge bars, conference rooms, and swimming pools, 52 self-contained cottages and car park. The hotel, international trade and arbitration centres have not been built.

Planning permission was granted subject to more than 30 conditions - one of which specifically stated that "construction of the main hotel building shall be completed and the hotel shall be in operation prior to the occupation of any of the houses".

This clause further stipulated that the houses "shall be used for purposes ancillary to the hotel only and shall not be used as places of permanent residence" and that "prior to the commencement of development, the developer shall submit for the approval of the planning authority full details of the proposed ownership arrangements and conditions of the houses".

Mr Campion did not return calls from The Irish Times. A spokesman for his architects, Frank Ennis & Associates, of Blackrock, Co Dublin said: "Our client has technical issues to be resolved and is in discussions with South Tipperary County Council."

In a report for An Bord Pleanála, Öznur Yücel-Finn, a senior planning inspector, described the location of the development as "one of the most sensitive locations - and not only in Co Tipperary". The inspector added that the site is "highly visible" from the Rock of Cashel and concluded, "therefore I consider it highly inappropriate as a location for such a large development in terms of its impact on the visual amenities of the area".

Meanwhile, community activists in Cashel are opposing plans for another hotel planned for the town centre. They want a park on the site instead.

Richard O'Brien of the "Save Our Town Park Committee" said the group is "writing to Minister for the Environment John Gormley to investigate this matter urgently".