Locals in west Clare have welcomed a Bord Pleanála ruling that the owners of Doonbeg golf course built a two-metre wall across an existing public right of way without planning permission.
The golf club will now face enforcement proceedings from Clare County Council to have the wall knocked down after the appeals board ruled that the wall is not exempt from development.
The decision also throws into doubt a High Court settlement the club reached in January 2004 after a four-year right-of-way dispute with five locals, which prompted the golf club to extinguish the right of way by building the wall across it.
If the council secures a demolition order, locals will be able to drive their tractors and cars to Doughmore beach across the 18th fairway of the Greg Norman-designed golf course. Chairman of Cree-Caherfeenick Action Group Jimmy McNulty yesterday described the decision as "a major relief". Doonbeg golf club said it was taking advice as to what step it should now take in view of the Bord Pleanála decision.
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