Baysports project approval appealed to planning board

An appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála in bid to overturn the approval last month of a contentious application by Baysports waterpark in Hodson Bay.

Roscommon County Council granted planning permission for a five-year duration at the end of January in relation to what was initially described as an “expansion of existing waterpark facilities” mainly consisting of temporary structures like marquees on the shore, and inflatable floating objects and waterside installations like slides and platforms that make up the inflatable water park.

The proposal, approved on January 24 last, had been “modified significantly” during the planning process in response to issues raised by the local authority.

The number of marquees were reduced, their positioning was changed and the location of a welded mesh fence was altered so that “full public access to the headland is maintained”, according to the planning report and planning conditions laid down by the local authority after it gave the green light.

The initial proposal provoked the ire of several angling groups, who were among 18 submissions in total. Among the many concerns raised were access to the beach area and public amenity, the “realignment of fences”, along with fears about the potential effects on water ecology, traffic and the visual impact of the watersports facility.

While the local authority accepted that the revised proposal will give rise to “some visual impact” it is “seasonal and temporary in nature” and given the established precedence, it's not considered the development would be an “unacceptable upscaling of features on land and water” which would give rise to a detrimental visual impact on the setting, it said in the approval decision documents. It was also considered that the “principle of the development is acceptable” at this location and through the “significant modification” of the original proposal, the planning related issues raised during the course of the application had been addressed.

However, one party Margaret Ducke, later appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála, and a second, Athlone Anglers Association, is listed on the board website as an appellant but it has been declared invalid.

As part of a submission during the local planning process, Margaret Ducke of Crannagh Beg, expressed concern about the impact the project will have on biodiversity, from reedbeds to a grassy area where the marquees would be located and concerns that the shore and public amenity area would be fenced off.

“In our area we don't have mountains. We have the lake and its wonderful biodiversity, ” the submission added. “It is for this lakeside scenery that people come here. Are we going to kill the goose that laid their golden egg?” the submission said.

All landside temporary structures and waterside inflatables would be removed at the end of each operating season, the conditions attached to the approval last month stipulated, adding that no additional inflatables would be installed without written approval of the planning authority.

The permission did not facilitate, however, the retention of the existing fence in the southern area of the site, in a position which impedes public access to the headland.

The appeal case is due to be decided by June 22, according to the An Bord Pleanála website, although there are major delays with a backlog of cases currently being experienced by the board, many of which are already several months behind schedule.