An Bord Pleanála yesterday announced that it is to hold an oral hearing into contentious plans by Clare County Council to develop a €15 million visitor centre at the world-renowned Cliffs of Moher.
The oral hearing will take place in Ennis over three days, starting on October 14th. It will allow former partners in the project, Clare County Council and Shannon Development, to clash for the first time in a public forum over the plan.
The plan comprises a two-storey centre to be built into the hillside behind the existing centre. This will contain an audio-visual theatre, a restaurant and an exhibition area, while a separate retail centre will be constructed in the existing car park.
Currently, the 750,000 people who visit the cliffs annually are served by tea-rooms and toilets built in the late 1970s. In response to the inadequate facilities, the council and Shannon Development came together in the early 1990s and put the current plan in place, apart from the new retail facility, which the council has incorporated into the plan.
However, opposition from Shannon Development to local landowners having a stake in the retail dimension of the project held it up during the 1990s and the council finally lodged plans for the scheme in April 2001 after resolving the dispute with the local landowners, allowing them a stake in the stand-alone retail facility.
However, the project's most strident opponent has been Shannon Development. In a 42-page appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the decision by the council's planning department, it maintains that the proposal is "flawed".
Shannon Development says that the council's proposals "are extremely intrusive upon the natural environment and do not represent an appropriate proposal, based on best international practice, for management of sensitive natural heritage resources and sensitive landscapes".
In its place, Shannon Development - which currently operates the tea-rooms at the cliffs - is proposing an alternative visitor model. This entails restricting access to the cliffs, removal of the existing car park and the placing of park-and-ride facilities in adjoining villages. The company argues that its model will protect this natural resource and give visitors an enhanced experience.
The council planner's report, however, describes the proposed centre as an "imaginative proposal", adding that it will be more environmentally sustainable than the current facilities.
In response to the appeal board's decision, the council's director of planning and economic development, Mr Ger Dollard, said yesterday: "We welcome the fact that a definite date for the hearing has now been set. The determination of the appeal by the board will hopefully bring to a conclusion the long debate regarding visitor facilities at the cliffs."
The decision was also welcomed by a Shannon Development spokesman, who said that the company was looking forward to putting its arguments on why the centre should not go ahead.
An Taisce has also appealed the council's decision, although the plan generated little local opposition in north Clare.
