This article is from page 31 of the 2008-01-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
EAST clare land owners are calling for an extension of time to appeal their lands being included in Special Protection Areas (SPA’s) for the Hen Harrier.
Lands on Sliabh Aughty and envi- rons have been earmarked as breed- ing grounds for the birds by the Na- tional Parks and Wildlife Service.
But while many farmers are wel- coming the move as it will give them payments on land which is otherwise
nothing but mountain scrub, others say there 1s confusion about what the designation will mean, with no clarity on the matter coming from the Wildlife Service.
After two meetings held before Christmas in Tulla and Scariff with representatives of the Wildlife Serv- ice explaining the implications of the designations, local landowner and councillor, Pat Hayes, says that there are still many questions to be answered.
“Some landowners have been told
that it will not affect planning ap- plications which they might make on their lands but we don’t have that officially. We do know that every planning application which comes before the local authority relating to these areas now has to be forwarded to the Wildlife Service but planning is the remit of the local authority, not the Wildlife Service.
“There’s a lot of confusion. Peo- ple can opt out of the designation scheme but they will still be subject to certain restrictions — it’s just not
clear to many people whether they would be better in or out of the scheme,” said Cllr Hayes.
It’s with this in mind that the serv- ice 1s to be asked to extend the dead- line for landowners to appeal being included in the SPA’s beyond Febru- ary 8.
“We need at least a couple of months for people to find out what the drawbacks and restrictions are and what the advantages might be in their own cases. As of now, a lot of people just don’t know,” he said.