An Taisce has expressed concern over a proposal for a £12 million housing development twice the size of Doonbeg on the northern edge of the Co Clare village.
Seeking to take advantage of the anticipated tourist bonanza from the £12.5 million Greg Norman-designed Doonbeg golf resort, M. Fitzgibbon (Builders) Ltd has applied to Clare County Council to construct 136 houses. In the planning application, the developer has signalled that many of these will be used as holiday homes.
The proposed development, on 40 acres, is twice the size of Doonbeg village, which contains an estimated 70 houses. Mr Tony Lowes, chairman of An Taisce's Natural Environment Group, claims the development of 136 houses could never be in the interest of the environment. "There are insurmountable landscape issues in these massive coastal tourism developments as well as problems of sewage and water."
A spokeswoman for Doonbegg Community Development Co Ltd - it represents the interests of the Doonbeg community - said a decision had not been made yet on how it would view the application. However, she said the community would be concerned about any large-scale development which was not in keeping with the rural aspect of the village.
A decision is due before December 8th.
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