Any update on the doolin harbour proposal?

CRenegade

rodento wrote: »

Doolin pier gets a mention in the new LAP for the area. Seems major plans to upgrade facilities as well as extend pier are afoot. This decision should delay the extension by about a year

What exactly are you trying to say Rodent?

rodento

Just that from reading the LAP, one has to conclude that they have major plans for the area, the harbour extension been only a part of

It is an objective of the Council to provide for the upgrade and extension of
Doolin Pier and any associated activities related to Maritime and Tourism use.
Planning permission has been granted to the OPW to provide an Irish Coast Guard
Station in the vicinity of Doolin pier.

Doolin pier has a long history of visitor ferry operations to the Aran Islands and
as such generates a considerable amount of visitor traffic through the holiday
period which is a significant contributor to the local economy. It is important that
all development that takes place around the pier head area is sympathetic to its
sensitive location having regard to the proper planning and sustainable
development of the area. It will be an objective of the Council to accommodate
the renovation and extension of Doolin pier and to upgrade visitor facilities at this
location.

Also the harbour development is now in keeping with local plans as set out in the North Clare LAP 2011 - 2017

Their case is going to be stronger, they have a plan for the extension that now requires an EIS, my guess is they will resubmit the currect council passed one with an EIS, anything else will cost way more as it'd have to be re-designed

All I'm saying is don't put away your pens just yet

spaceHopper

rodento wrote: »

All I'm saying is don't put away your pens just yet

Wil you ever cheer up - come on let's be happy about this.

As far as building a pier - the ISA, WCSC and most other people are in favour of a new pier, it's just that this one was a bad design forced through.

Now they will have to do a EIR and it will be looked at by professionals who don't have to worry about local elections or who's scratching their back in some way.

The wave modeling Clare CC did was a joke and won't be accepted by An Board P do they will have to fix it.

Also if they submitt plans for third time and they get rejected they'll be a laughing stock the guy runing it will know this and want to make sure it goes through, the only way that's going to happen now is if they get it right, which is possible.

CRenegade

Ok RODENT, I'm not going to get into a string of posts with you - better things to be doing but to inform of others reading your post...

All that objective info was contained in the last Plan, its all pretty much waffle with no specifics that, yes is contained in a Statutory Plan, but can only be implemented if it accords with proper planning and sustainable development of the area. Ive seen such objectives in plans up and down the country but when it comes down to decision making its hard facts that cuts the cheese not what a councillor has decided to put into a plan.

The planning policy takes up one small section of an Environmental Impact Statement - the remainder is compiled from facts relating to the environment. It is these facts that will at the end of the day determine whether or not a proposal is worthy of a grant of permission and not policy written in Ennis.

An Bord Pleanála have looked at this in great detail, concluded that there are many sensitive receptors in and around the site at Doolin that would be impacted upon by the development - Including surfing! These will all have to be addressed adequately in an EIS and through the drawings and detailed particulars associated with a new pier design.

The council cannot put together enviro reports like the last time and say there will be no effect. The Board will be watching that very carefully. If the EIS is not prepared correctly the Board will deem the new application invalid. I know very closely how An Bord Pleanala works my former boss was a former chairperson of the Board.

Ireland have not been carrying out their obligations in respect of Environmental Impact Assessments in the past and the European Union have caught us up on this on many occaisions recently. A new planning act was introduced last year to try solve this but were still not there.

The areas in and around doolin pier are protected with EU status and this overrides any small objective of a local plan.

We will not be putting our pens down just yet (as you advised) - we didnt stop after the first application, we didnt stop after the second application, we didnt stop when they applied to the Dept. Of Enviro for the Foreshore and we certaintly didnt stop with our submission to An Bord Pleanala.

Yes its not a closed case and we still have work to do. We will keep at it until there are no other routes or alternatively if the pier is designed with proof that it will not impact on the waves and surfers access to the water.

OldGuysRule

Neil,
I am just glad that you are a surfer and that we have your input. Once again, cheers.

Conor,
With your obvious interest and background, you are welcome to come and meet us or discuss it any time. Your input would be welcome, but let's keep it positive. You do not always have to be the devil's advocate, although I am sure he is relieved to be constantly reminded that you are on his side.

spaceHopper

OldGuysRule wrote: »

devil's advocate, although I am sure he is relieved to be constantly reminded that you are on his side.

Are you sure he wasn't kicked out of hell and is really one of the un-dead it would explain a lot

kodute

Well done CRenegade and all involved! Keep up the fight!

rodento

What I forgot to say is that it'd be good if we could see an overall plan for the area with the proposed rescue centre and improved tourist falcilities. We may be able to see the context of the proposed harbour extension location

keryl

Great work.

Really is a shame that they would sacrifice something completely natural and that costs nothing (surfers don't expect luxuries to catch a few waves) but gains money through surf tourism for the sake of making a small few happy.

Hope this all works out for everyone.:)

Sportsmad_Mick

Doolin is such a great little spot but the pier is an eye sore at the moment with all the cabins and gimmicky signs around the place- looks a bit trailor park for an area that is so gorgeous- hopefully any new plans will include a bit more structure to make it less bitty at the pier

aaronosiochain

Work to commence in March. Approximately 12 months of works

OldGuysRule

Where did you hear that, has a contractor been appointed for the works?

aaronosiochain

OldGuysRule wrote: »

Where did you hear that, has a contractor been appointed for the works?

here http://www.cisireland.com/projectdescription.aspx?id=1164

OldGuysRule

Thanks for that, will be interesting to see who is awarded the contract. Remembering that it is a D&B contract, I would love to see the design aspect of the successful tender. Obviously Clare Co Co have not engaged with other stakeholders about the design, the WCSC specifically requested this in the various correspondence along the way, but realistically, we did not expect anything from CCC in this regard.

The final selection of the key design elements such as rock armour type, its impact on the refracted / reflected waves, location of surfers access, access during the works etc are key to the medium and long term surfing in Doolin. Might be time to touch base with CCC again anyways......

Mickeroo

Did they take anything on board from the objections and that anyone know?

OldGuysRule

There were significant changes made from the first planning application to the second, but there is still no clarity from CCC as to the final design spec included in the D&B tender that was issued.