Green light for natural medicines centre in Feakle

A NEW centre for natural medicines and therapy has been given the go-ahead by Clare County Council for a site outside Feakle.
The owners of the Satmya Vedic Living Centre, which has been in operation in Killaloe since 2007, told county planners they wish to create an eco-friendly building on lands that they own in Magherabawn, Feakle.
The project will involve a single-storey building to replace existing demolished stables and will contain a classroom, treatment room, consultation facilities and dispensary.
Six parking spaces will be created beside an existing yard and a hay barn will be removed. The business will offer naturopathy as well as an Indian traditional therapy called Ayurveda.
Yvette and Douglas Hyde have described the proposed new building as being in the style of a traditional Irish farmhouse or outbuilding with a corrugated red iron roof and external cladding of plaster or wood.
According to the planning application, the treatment room will be used for teaching Ayurveda courses, yoga and meditation. Practical lessons will also be held on cooking Ayurvedic food and making medicines.
The owners also propose to use the centre to film content for online classes and to teach live classes. The application notes that most of the training offered will now take place online “with a reduced requirement for physical attendance”.
Two bathrooms with compost toilets are to be installed at the centre, as well as a therapy room with sliding doors leading to a teaching garden. There are also plans for the installation of a sauna and Japanese hot tub.
On their website (Satmya.ie), the owners said they are transforming the site, where they already live, into a nature and botanical sanctuary.
They said that since purchasing the land in 2018, they have planted over 1,000 native trees (including oak, birch, hazel, willow, holly, spindle, Scots pine and many others), medicinal trees, herbs and plants. The lands have been ‘Dronagiri’ after a mythical Indian mountain region, which was reputedly rich in medicinal plants.
The couple said they are developing the lands using Vastu shastra, a traditional Indian approach and are restoring the lands using “permaculture, biodynamic, organic, no dig and homeopathic agricultural methods”.
Permission for the new centre has been granted by the council, subject to eight conditions. These relate to visual amenity, traffic safety, pollution prevention and the development contribution.
No objections were received during the consultation phase of the development.

by Fiona McGarry