Planned £12.5m golf links resort in Doonbeg `lifeline to local community'

The Greg Norman £12.5 million golf links resort proposed for Doonbeg, Co Clare, represents a lifeline to the local community that redresses the balance of lost opportunities in the past.

That is the view of Mr Bernard McHugh, who was making his closing submission to a Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the application by Irish National Golf Club Ltd to develop the links course, a 51-bedroom hotel, 80 holiday homes and 368 car-parking spaces at Doonbeg, Co Clare.

Acting on behalf of the applicants, Mr McHugh said it was the local community that sowed the seeds of the project by identifying the elements of the project with the assistance of Shannon Development. Throughout the three-day hearing, a number of representatives from the Doonbeg community told the board's senior inspector, Ms Oznur Yucel Finn, of the economic deprivation in the area, saying that the project was an opportunity to reverse the decline. Yesterday Mr Brendan Daly TD (FF) made a similar plea.

However, in his closing submission Mr David Hickey, acting on behalf of An Taisce, said the local community was presented with a stark choice: either accept the proposed development, promising wealth and employment, or nothing.

He said: "There is scope for the development of a non-links golf course and smaller holiday developments in the general area. "There does not have to be a links course in an environmentally-sensitive area, as is currently proposed."

Along with An Taisce, the Heritage Council and Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) appealed Clare County Council's decision to grant permission, claiming the proposal would destroy an area of international conservation importance.

However, Duchas, the Heritage Service charged with protecting and conserving Ireland's natural and built heritage, said yesterday that the proposal would not have a negative impact on the two proposed Special Areas of Conservation adjacent to the site.

Defending Duchas's decision to reduce the proposed SAC at the site last year, Dr Tom Curtis said that the redrawn SAC contained only the intact dune system at the site.

Dr Curtis said the dune systems that have been damaged due to sand extraction, and the wetland areas that were originally included as they form part of the proposed National Heritage Area, have not been included.

He rejected a claim by Mr Paddy Matthews of the Heritage Council that the dune system should be viewed as one dynamic system and that the intact dunes needed to be supported by the dune system.

However, in response to a query from the appeal board's senior inspector, Dr Curtis expressed concern over the possible erosion caused by an estimated 240 golfers per day trampling in close proximity to one of the SACs.

In his closing submission, Mr Hickey on behalf of An Taisce said: "The Doonbeg beach and dunes form part of the environment which is not robust, and which cannot accommodate such a large-scale, intrusive development without seriously injuring the scenic and visual amenities and the wildlife and habitats."

Mr Hickey told the hearing that the sum of the potential impacts on the dune system and landscape at Doonbeg made a compelling case to refuse permission.

In relation to the proposed 80 holiday homes and hotel, Mr Peter Sweetman, of FIE, said the proposal represented "a rich man's paradise that is totally out of context with west Clare".

A decision is due on the appeal by July 29th.