Storm force winds have caused substantial damage to an unauthorised marina development at Oysterhaven, Co Cork, which is the subject of legal action by the Department of Marine.
During Thursday night's storm, a gangway broke away from a jetty and four pontoons have also separated. The Department of Marine secured an injunction several months ago to stop the use of the structure on grounds of public safety, and full High Court proceedings in relation to the development are due to be held early in the new year.
Legal action was initiated against the owner of Walton Court, an 18th-century mansion and five-star holiday complex, following the issuing of an ultimatum over a breach of section 12 of the Foreshore Acts. The department originally wrote to Paul Rafferty of Walton Court in October 2005, instructing him to remove all works from the foreshore occupied by him and to restore the area to its former condition within six weeks.
The department said a site inspection by its engineering division showed the structures, including a slipway, pontoon and walkway approved under foreshore leases granted in September 2003 had not been built to the authorised plan.
The department's letter said the slipway inhibited public access across the shoreline due to its height, and mooring anchors for the pontoon had been put in place "outside the lease area" and extended "too far into the harbour".
Cork County Council has also found the development to be in breach of planning approval granted by An Bord Pleanála in 1999.
The development is marked on admiralty charts published by the British Hydrographic Office based on information supplied to it by Walton Court. It said it was subsequently informed by "further clarifying communications" with Walton Court that the marina facilities claimed were "not in fact in place".
Charts have been amended to show a pier "under construction" and to delete information on marina facilities through a notice to mariners, the Admiralty Office said. Representation of any feature of navigational significance on charts "does not indicate that it has legal approval to be there", it said, and charts do depict features that are a potential hazard or an aid to navigation.
Efforts to contact Mr Rafferty proved unsuccessful yesterday. He began restoring Walton Court in 1996 and the development includes four self-catering cottages and seven duplex apartments.
