The Bord Pleanala oral hearing into plans to develop visitor facilities at Mullaghmore in the Burren National Park was told yesterday there could not be a worse place to site such a development.
In evidence on the third day of the hearing into the appeal by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms ile de Valera, against Clare County Council's decision to refuse planning permission for visitor facilities at Mullaghmore, botanist Dr Jane Smart stated that no development should take place at the site.
Emphasising the botanical importance of the Mullaghmore area, Dr Smart stated that, to botanists, the area is known as "the centre of development in the Burren flora", adding that the global botanical importance of the Burren as a whole is highlighted by its classification as a centre of plant diversity by the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund in 1994.
An executive director of Plantlife, Dr Smart said the international and national value and importance of the Mullaghmore area was acknowledged, but was insufficiently taken into account by the Environmental Impact Statement carried out on behalf of Ms de Valera.
The stringent nature protection requirements of the EU Habitats and Species Directive will be infringed if the development proceeds, she said.
Dr Smart was one of three botanical experts to give evidence on behalf of the Burren Action Group yesterday. Ms Libby Simon of the Conservation Foundation stated that new access will create problems, stating that experience in national parks in England in the Peak and Lake District had shown how excessive pedestrian pressure could destroy the very resource the parks were designed to protect. In further evidence, Ms Carol Anne Hatton of WWF stated it was significant that every single environmental organisation in Ireland was united in its opposition to the siting of any facilities, however limited, at Mullaghmore.
In earlier evidence yesterday, Prof Emer Colleran of the BAG outlined how earlier plans by the Wildlife Service to designate the Mullaghmore area a statutory nature reserve were overtaken by plans of the parks division of the Office of Public Works to promote visitor access to the area through the construction of a visitor centre.
The hearing, which is due to end on Wednesday, continues today.