Railway museum on track for Moyasta

PLANNING has been lodged with Clare County Council for the redevelopment of the West Clare Railway, incorporating a National Railway Heritage Museum in Moyasta.

 

The project would include a storage and repair area for historic railway rolling stock, a café and gallery. It would involve the construction of a footbridge over the railway line, adjacent to the museum building, along with a railway and pedestrian crossing on the main Kilrush/Kilkee road.

In the planning report submitted by Brendan McGrath and Associates, Corofin, it is envisaged that the museum would have a floor area of 1,853 square metres.

Clare County Council granted permission for a similar project in 2009 but the National Roads Authority successfully appealed that decision. An Bord Pleanála refused permission on the grounds the development would endanger public safety by reason of a traffic hazard and that the proposal had “not shown how it would integrate with the established railway at Moyasta junction”.

However, Brendan McGrath’s planning report states the current proposal differs from the previous project in several respects.

“The current site is much larger. There are additional development elements including rail and pedestrian crossings of the N67, an enlarged car park at the existing visitor centre and a wastewater treatment system.

“The physical context is also different, there now being a 60km/h speed limit in Moyasta,” the report reads.
In 2009 the speed limit was 100km/h. The site is within the designated settlement of Moyasta as set out in the West Clare Plan 2012-2018 and is zoned for tourism-related use.

The planning report includes a letter of consent from Niall Grogan, Iarnród Éireann, for development of the part of the site owned by Irish Rail, while a letter from landowner Mary Mahony states she has no objection to the erection of road signs, linked to the West Clare Railway, on her lands.