Cave visitor centre approved

The controversial development of a visitor centre at the Pol an Ionainn Cave in Doolin was given the green light this week. Clare County Council granted planning permission for the development at Craggecorradan in April but the company behind rival attraction, the Aillwee Caves along with An Taisce and another party, appealed this to An Bord Pleanála.

This week, the board upheld the local authority’s decision and granted permission for a visitor reception building with shop and café, a 30-space car park and a waste water treatment system at the entrance to the cave, which is famous for its seven-metre stalactite located 35 metres below ground level.
Clare County Council had granted permission subject to 20 conditions and said the proposed development would not seriously injure the landscape or the ecological and geological value of the area and would not pose a threat to public health.
Aillwee Cave Company appealed the permission, saying the proposed development was in contravention of two planning regulations, the Clare County Development Plan and that it would “militate against the preservation of this landscape and would seriously injure the visual amenities of the area”.
The appeal, signed by the managing director Nicolas Johnson, also stated, “That all the above evidence has been completely and utterly disregarded in the decision to grant permission to the application. How can the decision to grant permission be lawful when the previous permission prohibited unequivocally what is being granted now? Reasons set down as being contravenous by way of An Bord Pleanála recommendations in one refusal are not given reference to in any way in the latest granting. On both occasions the application to Clare County Council were the same. This reflects, in our opinion, a completely untransparent and biased planning procedure.”
An Taisce also appealed to the board, arguing that the applicant had not provided an Environmental Impact Statement, that Pol an Ionain is “now the subject of an extensive enforcement file”, that the decision is inconsistent with previous refusals, that the applicants had failed to justify development, and that there was “deficient consideration of the cumulative impact of the application by Clare County Council”.
An Bord Pleanála concluded that the proposed development would provide tourist facilities at a scale appropriate to the visitor attraction at Pol an Ionainn cave and that it would not promote an unsustainable pattern of development and would not give rise to a risk of water pollution. It said it would not prejudice public health, nor would it threaten the natural heritage value of the Pol an Ionainn cave complex and the stalactite therein. It also concluded that the proposed development would not injure the visual amenities or landscape character of the area and would not give rise to traffic hazard or undue congestion. Therefore, it granted permission to the development, subject to 12 conditions.
The board limited the number of visitors that can attend the site to 55,000 per year to safeguard the long-term viability of the cave system and ecological features and to prevent traffic congestion around the site. It stated that any signage associated with the development should be subject to a separate application for permission. It stipulated that the coach spaces be relocated, that tarmacadam and concrete surface materials be replaced, that the roadside boundary be defined by a dry stone wall, that bicycle parking be provided on site and that a traffic management plan be provided for the operation of a park and ride facility from Doolin village on the days on which the site is open to the public.
Before work starts on the project, the developer has to lodge the sum of €500,000 with the planning authority as a bond, as well as pay the county council a development contribution.