ABOUT 20 miles north of Lahinch, the charming village of Ballyvaughan has, so far, escaped the worst of the development rush on the western seaboard.
About the most obtrusive development is the Garda telecommunications mast in the centre of the village.
Ms Geraldine Linnane owns the SPAR supermarket and an adjoining craft centre in the village, and is a member of Ballyvaughan Development Council.
She says the village managed to escape undesirable development because, unlike Lahinch, it did not have an internationally known surfing beach and golf links. "Having said that, outsiders are certainly looking at Ballyvaughan as a potential area for development," she says.
Two significant applications lodged within the last year include one for a hotel with 25 houses attached, together with some retail units, on one side of the village. The other is for 60 houses at the other end.
The development committee is drawing up its own development plan for the village. She is "hopeful" the county council will a heed to local concerns.
"We are looking at what type of market we are in: are we in a tourism market, a farming market, industry or whatever? ... You don't want to be saying no to everything; it's a case of saying, what do we want?"
The committee hopes to involve as many people living in the area as possible in drawing up a comprehensive 10 to 15 year plan.
Some trends are already apparent according to Ms Linnane.
"First of all you must look at the infrastructure of the place, before you start any of this development. Have we got the water supply?
Have we got a proper sewerage system? Can our streets take this type of traffic?"
Then you need to look at the type of tourism development best suited to the area. "Are we going to stick up holiday homes all around the place, have them vacant for nine months of the year and chock a block for three months? The general consensus is: we don't want that. We don't want a dead town here in the winter."
Ballyvaughan's location on the northern approaches to the Burren means its development as a tourism destination is inevitable. But the villagers are anxious that it hap pens in a controlled manner and doesn't destroy the area.