Plans to build a caravan park in Kilkee have been blocked by Clare County Council for a second time.
The proposed development at a site in Dough, to the South East of the town, was subject to 14 objections from the public – including from local councillors, residents and a tourism group.
At the end of June, Gold Star Homes 3 Limited, applied to Clare County Council for permission to develop a caravan park in Kilkee.
The planning application sought to develop a site in Dough – to the south east of the town – capable of hosting 45 caravans.
In this their second application at the site, the Kerry-based company hired NRB consulting engineers to conduct a traffic assessment to measure the potential impact the caravan park could have on the area.
The assessment revealed that in a worse-case scenario the site would generate two-way hourly traffic of 13 cars at lunchtime and a 24-hour traffic volume of 114 cars.
14 objections were lodged against the development – including from Fianna Fáil Councillor Cillian Murphy, Independent Councillor Ian Lynch, Kilkee Tourism LTD and Moinin Residents Association.
Clare County Council refused planning permission for the project on three grounds.
The local authority says the road network which serves as the access to the site is ‘deficient in terms of its capacity’ and would ‘endanger public safety by reason of a traffic hazard’, that the land is zoned for Low Density Residential Development and that other sites zoned for Tourism would be more suitable, and finally that the site would be visually disturbing to nearby residents.
