Appeals board opts for oral hearing into Burren centre

Contentious Government plans to develop visitor facilities at Mullaghmore in the Burren National Park are to come under close scrutiny at a Bord Pleanala oral hearing later this year.

This follows the appeals board ruling yesterday that an oral hearing should be held "having regard to the significant local and national issues" arising in the planning application lodged on behalf of the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, by the Office of Public Works (OPW).

Last October, Ms de Valera appealed to An Bord Pleanala over Clare Co Council's decision to refuse planning permission for facilities at Mullaghmore, ruling that the Minister's plans materially contravened the County Development Plan.

Long-time opponents of any development at the site, the Burren Action Group (BAG) and An Taisce, also appealed the council's decision in a move to strengthen the terms of the council's refusal and to give the parties equal status to the Minister at any oral hearing.

In correspondence to the parties yesterday, the board stated that because of the significance of the site, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) might be required from Ms de Valera to help the board determine the appeal.

Each party has been given 21 days to make a submission to the board on whether an EIS is necessary. If the board opts for a study, the Minister for Arts and Heritage has been allowed two months to submit the EIS.

To allow the completion of any EIS process and the holding of an oral hearing, the board has decided to defer a decision on the appeal until October 13th - three years after the application was first lodged to Clare Co Council.

A Burren Action Group spokesman said yesterday: "It has always been our firm belief that the proposed development merited an Environmental Impact Statement, and we will be pleased to play our part in any oral hearing designed to elicit the merits and demerits of the proposed development."

A spokesperson for the Minister said the correspondence from the board had been received and the matter was being considered.

Yesterday's move by the appeals board is the latest in the eight-year controversy that began in February 1991 with the announcement of Government plans for an interpretative centre at Mullaghmore which was opposed by the then newly established Burren Action Group.

Work on the partially completed interpretative centre was abandoned in 1993 after a High Court victory by the Burren Action Group.

The High Court ruled that the Office of Public Works (OPW) had acted ultra vires in not seeking planning permission for the development, which it was not required to do for any of its projects before the 1993 decision.

Since then, successive governments have made attempts to develop a scaled-down centre. The current planning application before the board was lodged by the then Minister, Mr Michael D. Higgins, in October 1996, for parking, toilets and a waiting area at the site.

The centre - rendered illegal by the High Court decision - remains in situ. A court ruling as to whether the works should be removed has been deferred until the latest planning application is determined.