This article is from page 56 of the 2008-01-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 56 JPG
PLANS have been lodged with Clare County Council for a €5 million tourism development in Bunratty.
The plan has been lodged on behalf of Kieran Flanagan who is seeking planning permission for two blocks that include commercial units and a café restaurant.
The site has been zoned for the pur- poses of providing tourism/leisure facilities and is located within walk- ing distance of Bunratty Castle — the main attraction in the area.
According to planning documents lodged with the council, “the modest
size of the individual units ensures that the development remains at a scale appropriate to the surrounding village context. The design of the de- velopment successfully reflects tra- ditional design character in a mod- ern idiom and is thereby in keeping with the established character of BLUbevestAATy
“The proposed development will consolidate the tourist retail presence within Bunratty and provide sup- porting facilities for existing tour- ist attractions and accommodation in the area. It will serve to increase and expand the tourist retail offer of Bunratty and in turn increase the
attractiveness and vibrancy of Bun- ratty as a tourist attraction.”
‘The site is one of the limited sites within Bunratty which has been zoned for the purposes of tourism AN OCO MD (sR UN Kon
“The development is compatible with the zoning objectives for the area which is to reserve lands for tourism related purposes,’ the plan- ning application states.
‘The urban design strategy for the development is to consolidate the village streetscape of Bunratty. This is achieved by the proposed design form and layout, which presents a streetscape to the main road through
Bunratty and also the access road to the development.
“The target market for this devel- opment is the substantial number of tourists who visit Bunratty each year as well as the local population. It is envisioned that the units will provide outlets for small, specialised stores, selling high order comparison goods suitable for the tourism market, such as crafts, gifts or clothing
“The development will serve to increase and expand the tourist re- tail offer of Bunratty and in turn in- crease the attractiveness of Bunratty as a tourist destination”, the planning application concludes.