Cullen to get report on Inch sand spit

A botanist's report on the sand spit at Inch, Co Kerry, a designated EU Special Area of Conservation, is to be presented to the…

A botanist's report on the sand spit at Inch, Co Kerry, a designated EU Special Area of Conservation, is to be presented to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, in an effort to get the go-ahead for a golf course on the 1,200-acre site.

Dr Arthur Spring, brother of former tánaiste Mr Dick Spring, has been involved in a 13-year campaign to build a golf course on Inch on behalf of its owners, Mr Jim Kennedy and Ms Patricia Kennedy.

The plans for the golf course have backing in Inch, where it is seen as a means of giving the area a focus and creating employment. It is also seen as a way of tackling a chronic litter problem on the beach area, and providing car park and toilet facilities for people visiting the beach and dunes.

However, conservationists and especially An Taisce in Kerry have been adamantly opposed to the golf course. They welcomed Mr Cullen's apparent closure of the subject recently.

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In a letter to Dr Spring in January, following an assessment report from ecologists, meetings with National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) representatives and a study of Mr Spring's proposals, Mr Cullen said he was "convinced" a golf course could not be allowed.

However, the letter also pointed out that the SAC designation did not preclude development.

Dr Spring, along with the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, have since met Mr Cullen in Kerry.

Yesterday Dr Spring confirmed that Mr Cullen had agreed to examine another botanist's report. The assumption that he would require ground water for the course, made in the NPWS report was wrong, Dr Spring told Mr Cullen.

He said the botanist's report would be compiled in May, adding that the dune system was being damaged by leisure activity.