Kerry GAA plans resubmitted due to technical hitch

Development plans by the Kerry county board of the GAA have had to be resubmitted because of a technical hitch.

Development plans by the Kerry county board of the GAA have had to be resubmitted because of a technical hitch.

Council planning inspectors visited the 31 acres earmarked for multi-million euro sports grounds and state-of-the-art facilities and found the notice was incorrect.

The application to Kerry County Council was for outline planning; the on-site board notice at Crohane, Fossa, near Killarney, was for full planning permission, a spokeswoman at the council planning office explained yesterday.

Now the whole application has had to be resubmitted and a decision is not due until the end of the month.

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Outline planning permission is being sought for the sports ground with four playing pitches, at least one of which will be an all-weather facility, clubhouse and buildings, as well as parking for buses and cars at Crohane, Aghadoe. The land is being bought by the Kerry GAA subject to planning permission, its chairman Mr Seán Walsh said recently.

With club training grounds stretched to the limit, the new sports ground is to be a state-of-the-art training facility for Kerry football and hurling teams, he said.

However, the application has attracted two objections.

The South Western Regional Fisheries Board said it is concerned about possible alterations to the Douglasha River, one of Kerry's most important tourist angling rivers.

The submission, by the board's environmental officer, Ms Patricia O'Connor, has also raised concerns about the effect of land drainage, surface water emissions and the removal of bankside vegetation on the aquatic habitat.

Effluent management and disposal have not been addressed, and further information is required.

A direct discharge of treated effluent to surrounding waters should not be permitted, Ms O'Connor said.

The Crohane Residents Association, through its Killarney solicitors, O'Keeffe, O'Shea, O'Connor, objects on the grounds that this is a major development in a rural area, will lead to water problems for neighbouring properties and, with parking provision for up to 170 cars and coaches, will create a traffic hazard on a main tourist route. The area does not have the necessary infrastructure, the submission states.

The site is not free draining and the southern side "is in fact swamp ground and subject to flooding".

Previous applications for single houses have been refused on those grounds, the submission said, and the residents have asked that the National Roads Authority be made aware of the planning application.