Donald Trump's Clare golf course has been cleared to build its Doonbeg wall
The Trump International Golf Links wants to carry out coastal erosion management works.
A DONALD TRUMP-OWNED golf course will be allowed construct a ‘wall’ off the coast of Doonbeg in County Clare.
Clare County Council said today that it has granted permission for the “development of coastal erosion management works” at Trump International Golf Links and Hotel.
The plans also cover areas at and adjacent to Carrowmore Dunes, White Strand and Doughmore Bay.
The development will see two new protection structures erected at the dunes in the area closest to the golf course.
According to the notification of the decision, the construction will include excavation of existing sand and the use of sheet piling backstops over 256 metres along the coastline.
The final structure, it adds, will be “screened from view”.
A number of conditions are also attached to the planning permission – including that access and rights of way to the beach cannot be obstructed and that an archaeologist with coastal, maritime and underwater experience is engaged.
The developer also has to pay two contributions to the council – one amounting to €25,231 to look after public infrastructure and facilities.
The other another ‘Special Development Contribution’ of €240,000 for roads and footpath facilities which the council has deemed necessary to facilitate development at the site.
Background
An even greater ‘wall’, costing €10 million, has long been mooted to be built at the beach by the west Clare resort to protect its grounds and golf course.
It claims that up to 20 metres of dune at the edge of the course have been eroded over the past 15 years. All efforts to manage the erosion and readjust the golf course have failed, the company said.
In December 2016, Trump’s firm withdrew plans to build a €10 million rock barrier along his Clare golf course – but said they would immediately submit this new application for scaled-back plans.
Environmental activists have warned that there could be downsides to the proposed work.
“We believe that the public may not be aware that, in effect, the proposed work at Doonbeg Golf course project hasn’t really changed and still involves beach-destroying seawalls,” four international experts wrote in the Clare Champion in January.
Appeals can be made to An Bord Pleanála by first or third parties against the decision over the next four weeks.
It is likely that one of the many groups which opposed the proposals, including An Taisce, a local surf group and Friends of the Irish Environment, will take that option.
Written by Sinead O’Carroll and posted on TheJournal.ie
