Ecologist says Doonbeg dunes were damaged significantly

The proposed site of the Greg Norman-designed £12.5 million golf links at Doonbeg, Co Clare, is not an intact dune system and has suffered significant damage over a number of years. That is the view of coastal ecologist Dr Tom Curtis of Duchas, the Heritage Service, who was responding to claims from An Taisce yesterday that the proposed site was a beautiful and pristine landscape.

Dr Curtis was speaking on the second day of a Bord Pleanala hearing into the application by Irish National Golf Club Ltd to develop the links course; a 51-bedroom hotel; 80 holiday homes and 368 car-parking spaces. The development is opposed by the Heritage Council, An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment, who say it would destroy the high conservation value of an area of international importance.

Dr Curtis told the appeal board's senior inspector, Ms Oznur Yucel Finn, that he first visited the site in 1982 and that there had been an escalation of damage in the intervening period through sand extraction and overgrazing. He said the damage was significant and the only outstanding intact sections were the special areas of conservation, adjacent to the proposed golf course.

Mr David Hickey for An Taisce said the site was pristine, otherwise it would not have been designated a proposed national heritage area. He acknowledged there were small pockets of degradation.

Mr Bernard McHugh, on behalf of the applicants, said the proposed golf course was to be located in the least sensitive part of the area, adding that the development was devised to protect the special areas of conservation. In relation to the impact of anticipated traffic, Mr Peter Sweet man of FIE said the inability to cope with traffic volumes during major events should be enough for the development to fail. In the submitted environmental impact statement, he said there was no mention of how heavy traffic would be catered for, even though it was being marketed as a world-class championship course.

Mr McHugh said lands in the vicinity of Doonbeg would be able to cater for the anticipated number of cars. The developers had agreed with Duchas to put in place a management plan where Duchas had jurisdiction and if it said no tournaments could take place, so be it.

Mr McHugh said there had been a lack of balance in the discussion on sustainable development and environmental considerations should not be seen as the be-all and end-all of the application. A balance had to be struck between the environmental considerations and economic and social aspects of the proposal.

The hearing also heard from four speakers from Doonbeg who support the plan. Father Pat Cotter said: "I can't find words strong enough to appeal to you, madam inspector, to describe how traumatised the whole west Clare region would be if we were to lose a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this. That would be a decision which would return the west to a depression far greater than we experienced in the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties."

The hearing continues today.