This article is from page 11 of the 2007-07-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
THE construction of an artificial reef on the Clare coastline could gener- ate knock on benefits for the county’s tourism industry, a meeting of Clare County Council heard last night.
Putting forward the motion coun- cillor Brian Meaney (GP) said any such project would help establish Lahinch as a destination for water sports and provide for considerable coastal protection.
He also stated that the reef would
help generate consistently bigger waves making Lahinch a mecca for Sele ace
The reef is made up of huge sau- sage-like bags of sand placed in around six metres of water around 250 metres from the coast with the waves peeling off from either side of the triangular shape.
The reef can be custom built to provide waves of varying shapes and SIZES.
Cllr Meaney said a similar project was already underway in Bourne-
mouth on the south east coast of England.
Bournemouth Council are planning to begin construction of an artificial reef in early Autumn 2007, the only such reef in Europe.
Original estimates put the cost of the project at £500,000 but experts say that the reef could be built for less than that amount.
Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) wel- comed the motion but asked that the issue be first discussed by local councillors at the north Clare area
nelexel mu etee
Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) also requested that the motion be put before coun- cillors living in the area.
“There should be a facility where issues like this can be brought to the area meetings. I would suggest that the motion be forwarded to the next north Clare area meeting.”
Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy (Ind) advised that the issue go back to a local committee meeting before being fully debated at county council aoe