Quin paintball centre plans look locked and loaded

The application, which refers to the development of an outdoor activity facility, including paintball, was lodged by Horatio Vasiu and Stranislav Goreanschi in November and a decision is due by the end of this week.
The applicants are seeking to develop the facility on Coillte lands at Cullaun/Deerpark South, near Quin.
Coillte forest manager Christy O’Dea confirmed to the local authority that Coillte Teo had no objections to the paintballing company applying for permission to operate the activity centre on Coillte lands.
In a cover letter to the council, the applicants said they are “experienced operators of a similar facility”.
“We intend carrying out the limited construction work, running and managing the facility initially ourselves. At this stage paintball is the only activity being considered, However, it is hoped any permission, which Clare County Council might grant, would allow some flexibility and provide for other compatible outdoor activity,” they continue.
In a document on the planning file, the applicants say their proposal would involve minimal intervention in the Coillte woodland and no felling of trees is proposed.
The applicants stated that they “feel the facility, if permitted, will expand and complement the range of outdoor activities available in the area”.
They also outlined that the nature of the activity of paintballing would require advance booking and is exclusively a planned group activity.
“More often than not, groups arrive in organised group transport such as a minibus or a number of people carriers, but transport is always pooled or shared. Where demand and available daylight permit two sessions there is a significant break of about one hour between sessions. Our experience is that a maximum of six car spaces are required for the anticipated number of participants,” the applicants state.
They propose to have self contained WCs of a “portaloo type” and say therefore no water supply and no wastewater treatment is required or proposed.
In a letter attached to the planning file, the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht made a submission in which they state that the subject site is approximately 600m from a proposed natural heritage area.
They accepted that the proposed development will not have any effect on the habitats of the proposed natural heritage area, however, they noted that the site is “a valuable habitat for numerous mammal and bird species”.
The ruins of Cullaun house is located approximately 600m from the site, which is home to “a maternity and hibernation roost of the Annex II species lesser horseshoe bat”. The department added that it is “likely that the species use the surrounding area for foraging”.
The ruins also house a nesting site for barn owls and kestrels and they note that the woodlands are also a valuable habitat for other bat species, red squirrels, fallow deer, badgers and pine martins.
“The department considered that the local authority should satisfy themselves that the development will not impact on the existing species by: fragmentation of habitat, population or breeding area of any protected species; disturbance of breeding, commuting and foraging mammal and bird species through ground clearance, noise, traffic and lighting,” the department’s submission concluded.
No other submissions have been received to date in relation to this application.