Planners have blocked developer Paddy McKillen jnr’s bid to build a €40 million resort on the Co Wicklow coast.
Mr McKillen’s company Creatively Pacific Ltd challenged Wicklow County Council’s decision to refuse it permission to build a tourist complex and surf school overlooking Magheramore beach.
An Bord Pleanála rejected the appeal in a decision published this week.
Louise Treacy, senior planning inspector, said the appeal did not justify locating the resort in “this unique, scenic location”.
The plan did not add to the “public amenity and enjoyment of the area”, her report states.
The board rejected Creatively Pacific’s appeal on January 29th, according to documents detailing the decision.
Ms Treacy cautioned that the proposal could have an impact the Magherabeg dunes special area of conservation.
“I such circumstances the board is precluded from granting permission,” she says.
The planning inspector noted that an ecological impact assessment did not demonstrate that the proposal would not affect important habitats, species or wildlife.
“As such, the proposed development would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area,” she says.
Wicklow County Council refused the project planning permission in May 2023.
Creatively Pacific intended building a gym, sauna, cinema, bar, pool and 48 “accommodation pods” on a three-hectare site on Ardmore Point, overlooking Magheramore beach in Co Wicklow.
The company intended integrating an existing surf school into the project.
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Reports estimated the cost at €40 million and said the complex would have employed 160 people, while building it would have created 200 jobs.
However, locals opposed the plan. More than 90 people formally objected to the scheme along with two Dáil deputies.
Opponents raised fears about the proposed resort’s likely impact on a well-known beauty spot and the nearby Wicklow Hospice and St Columban’s Nursing Home.
Wicklow County Council took the potential threat posed by the project to the Magherabeg dunes conservation area into account when it refused permission.
It also highlighted concerns about groundwater contamination and the likelihood that the development would increase the number of year-round visitors to a “sensitive location”.
Creatively Pacific appealed the council’s ruling several weeks later.
The company argued that the local authority’s decision was unwarranted and the grounds for refusing permission were unfounded.
The project’s designers were confident it could proceed “without impact on protected areas and the surrounding environment and amenity of the local community”.
Creatively Pacific’s advisers maintained that the project would be a new attraction in an area of the county seeking to boost tourism.
The company argued that the resort would be a “world-class destination”.
Mr McKillen was contacted for a comment.
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