The owner of a Georgian country house in Co Cork has been given an ultimatum by the Chief State Solicitor to remove an unauthorised slipway, marina pontoon and walkway and restore the shoreline near his property.
Paul Rafferty, of Walton Court in Oysterhaven, near Kinsale, has been given seven days to comply with an instruction from the Chief State Solicitor's office which was referred to it by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
Cork County Council has also confirmed that it has referred the issue of structures built by Mr Rafferty in breach of planning approvals to its legal department.
It is understood that these structures include a boathouse, entrance and access road, pier/slipway, catwalk and pontoon.
A spokesman for the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources told The Irish Times that Mr Rafferty was "viewed as being seriously in breach of his foreshore licence".
The department had written to him "on previous occasions" instructing him to "remove and restore the area".
"This instruction has not been complied with, and the department has referred the matter to the Chief State Solicitor's office," the spokesman said.
"We understand that they wrote to Mr Rafferty on Monday [ July 3rd] telling him that he has seven days to comply with the instructions or they will be taking further action."
Correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that the department instructed Mr Rafferty on October 7th, 2005, to remove all works from the foreshore currently occupied by him, and restore the area to its former condition within six weeks.
The department said in the letter that its engineering division had carried out a site inspection last year. This had revealed that structures, including a slipway, pontoon and walkway approved under foreshore leases granted in September 2003, had not been built to authorised plan.
The slipway inhibited public access across the shoreline due to its height and mooring anchors for the pontoon had been installed "outside the lease area", extending "too far into the harbour", the department said.
This was in breach of Section 12 of the 1933-2005 Foreshore Acts. Under this section, an application may be made to the District Court for an order requiring the removal of any such structures.
In a letter to Mr Rafferty's solicitor dated October 17th, 2005, Cork County Council's planning department enforcement section also found the development to be in breach of planning approval granted by Bord Pleanála in 1999.
It found that a pier/slipway was not constructed in accordance with plan, a pontoon/catwalk was built in the wrong position, an unauthorised road entrance had been created, a large number of trees subject to protection were removed, and a proposed boathouse had been built in the wrong position on the site. The boathouse differed "substantially" in terms of design, height and construction from that permitted.
Efforts by The Irish Times to contact Mr Rafferty for comment proved unsuccessful at the weekend.
Walton Court is described on tourist websites as a restored Georgian listed building with "stylish bedrooms and self-contained cottages", along with a small conference centre.
One tourist guide notes that a small marina was under construction in 2004, and private berthing for visiting sailors was "planned for 2005".
