Leitrim has just 2 1/2 miles of coastline, designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty in the county development plan. But fears are growing that this landscape is being destroyed by large-scale development arising from the tax incentives introduced under the Upper Shannon Rural Renewal scheme.
Over the past year residents of Tullaghan, a tiny village less than a mile from the outskirts of Bundoran, have seen 72 new houses built along a half-mile stretch of coastal road. Planning applications for a further 70 units have also been lodged with Leitrim County Council.
Some of the houses under construction are just yards from the water's edge, and the entire village has been turned into one large building site. "This is completely at variance with the ideals of the rural renewal scheme which was designed to bring people back to live and work in an area," said a spokesman for the residents.
"There are too many houses being built, and we do not believe there is any demand for them," he added. Members of the Tullaghan residents' group are to meet the Leitrim county manager later this month to voice their concerns.
The housing developments at Tullaghan now run into the already sprawling outskirts of Bundoran, with the result that it is now impossible to distinguish the town boundary as more and more countryside disappears.
Mr John O'Donnell, a member of Bundoran Urban District Council, who has campaigned against similar tax-fuelled developments in the town, said the new houses were bought by wealthy investors as a way to avoid paying tax.
It is estimated some 470 housing units have been built in Bundoran under the Seaside Resort tax scheme. "Most of these are only occupied for two or three weeks of the year, if at all," Mr O'Donnell said. "But the people who own them don't care because they are saving tax anyway. Meanwhile young people in Bundoran can't afford to buy houses."
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, who has responsibility for the rural renewal scheme, was warned of the threat to the environment by both the Heritage Council and the Western Development Commission (WDC) before it was introduced, but failed to bring in recommended safeguards.
In its annual review published in August, the WDC said amendments it recommended were not incorporated into the legislation. "The WDC believes that the exclusion of the requirement for the preparation of Integrated Area Plans (IAPs) prior to the drawdown of tax relief under the scheme may be unwise in the light of the sensitivity of the designated area," the review says.
A Government-commissioned report on the earlier Urban Renewal tax scheme recommended that incentives be linked to strategic plans and quality thresholds. The Department of the Environment took this advice and IAPs were required for the subsequent Urban Renewal Scheme and the Town Renewal Scheme.
Mr Michael Starrett, chief executive of the Heritage Council, who originally warned against the scheme in the absence of a strategic plan, said this week that it was "obviously driven purely by financial motives".
He said dialogue was ongoing with the five county councils and the Departments of Finance and the Environment, and he believed progress was being made because the local authorities had agreed to carry out a heritage appraisal of their policies.
In Tullaghan, a spokesman said that while the houses were being built there was no proper sewerage system. "All we have at the moment is a glorified septic tank, designed to cater for 10 houses.
The Leitrim county manager will be responding to concerns about development under the Rural Renewal tax scheme in next week's column.