This article is from page 4 of the 2014-12-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
PLANNING permission has been granted for the construction of “replica f shing village” in the centre of Doolin – despite a number of objections from local businesses and An Taisce.
Planners at Clare County Council have granted permission to Guss Fitzgerald to build the replica village on Fishers Street – which is earmarked to be a major local tourist attraction.
A host of objections were raised against the development with issues such as local infrastructure, parking and the need for a replica village all put forward.
In one objection, submitted by Joe O’Neill, it was stated that Doolin was already an authentic f shing village, so there was no need to construct a replica f shing village. “The existing village of Doolin is already an attractive small f shing village with a few authentic thatched cottage.
To built a fake replica village would be detrimental to the existing village,” he said. Objections were also raised by Petr Pandula of Fishers Street in Doolin who operated the Magnetic Music traditional music shop and cafe. In his off cial submission he high lighted issues such as parking diff culty, toilet access and waste water management.
“Even if the numbers would be very low and only a couple of hundred a day, the application is lacking an answer as to where those people would go to the toilet,” he said. “The only toilets available in Fishers Street are in O’Connor’s, in Guss Fitzgerald’s cafe, ours in the Ivy Cottage Cafe.
“After water charges have been introduced the applicant hardly can expect that O’Connor’s Pub and our cafe will cater for the needs of the replica f shing village. “The council is surely aware of the fact that Doolin is not connected to a sewage system and the existing septic tank can’t deal with a serious increase in numbers.”