Baysports verdict on hold as council seeks further data

Roscommon County Council has requested that 13 points of further information be complied with before they will make a final decision on a planning application by Baysports in Hodson Bay, which local angling groups had earlier claimed would take away access to the public amenity.

On February 9 last, Athlone Baysports Ltd applied for planning permission for what's described in the application as including an “expansion of existing waterpark facilities”, saying all of the structures proposed are temporary, mostly consisting of marquees and inflatable floating objects.

The marquees, 17 in all, will be laid over existing ground and require no foundations or disturbance of the ground, the application detailed, adding that planning was previously granted back in 2013 for an inflatable waterpark, and this new application is intended to replace this previous application.

It attracted a total of 18 submissions, among them several angling groups and individuals who raised concerns about access to the beach area, the “realignment of fences” along with fears about the potential effects on water ecology and the visual effects of the facility.

On April 5, Roscommon County Council requested 13 points of further information from the applicant before a final decision will be announced, saying it considered there are “deficiencies in the level of information provided” in the file, principally the Natura Impact Statement.

Bird surveying is required to make a decision, it stressed, while it was noted that the traffic impact assessment (TIA) was based on surveys out of season. The local authority asked for clarity on the “increased numbers that the enlarged facility will give rise to and how traffic can be accommodated” and for a seasonally appropriate TIA to be carried out. “It is noted a two metre high welded mesh fence to serve the development is proposed to the rear of the changing marquees,” the further information request stated, asking for a map or documentary evidence “to demonstrate or substantiate any claims you may have to exclusive rights of access, entitlement or ownership of the affected areas”. Alternatively, it requested a revision of the proposal which would “not impede public access to this area”. Written confirmation of engagement with Irish Water is also required by the local authority to demonstrate that the existing wastewater treatment plant has sufficient capacity. “It is imperative that further discharges to Lough Ree should be avoided,” the local authority stressed as part of the further information request. Among the other questions posed concerned the marquees proposed and the materials used, opening and closing times, queries about lighting, and how the reed beds would be protected.

In a letter in the planning file “supporting Baysports and their activities" in Hodson Bay, Waterways Ireland described it as an “innovative business” that provides an “economic and social dividend to the local and regional economies” by providing employment, directly through its operation and indirectly, through supporting services.

The marquees earmarked in the application would be for use as a reception and wet suit distribution, safety briefing, changing marquees, a customer observation area marquee, a dining area and a gift shop, cafe, along with prefabricated offices, outdoor showers and a realignment of existing fencing.

The second part of the plan would consist of the waterside installations covering slides, booms, platforms and climbing walls, all of which are PVC structures permanently fixed to the lake bed using ropes and anchors.

The applicant has six months to respond to the further information request from the council to allow a final decision on the application to be made.