This article is from page 23 of the 2011-03-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
THE LAHINCH based West Coast Surf Club (WCSC) has described Clare County Council’s decision not to consult with either the Irish Surf Association or the WCSC before submitting the revised plan for Doolin Pier as both “shortsighted” and “regrettable”.
Next Monday, March 21, councillors at Clare County Council will vote whether to grant the local authorities Part 8 planning application for the development of Doolin Pier. A decision of the matter was deferred by the councillors in December to allow for more public consultation and since them more than 30 submission have been made on the proposed development.
Surfers fear the development of the pier will effect the waves generated off Crab Island just beside the proposed pier.
“We request that the revised proposals are not accepted and that Clare County Council revert to the 2002 proposal to extend the existing pier to ensure that the wave environ- ment in the area is maintained,” said Cliodhna Fawl in a submission on behalf of the West Coast Surf Club.
“We again take the opportunity to suggest, as we did during a meeting with Clare County Council, their consulting engineers, the WCSC and the ISA in November of 2010, that the option of locating the pier further north in the bay, above the larger public car part be revisited. “This is the closest area in the deep water channel to the deep water channel and is likely to have the least impact on the Doolin wave environ- ment.” In the sane submission the WCSC also raised safety concerns for surfers accessing the water should the new pier be development and a positive negative impact on tourism. “Apart from the damage that the proposed work will undoubtedly do to the world famous wave environment, the design poses a serious and significant health andww safety threat to the surfers accessing the waves at Doolin Point and Crab Island,” she says. “Surf tourism is a highly important and valuable income stream for west Clare, throughout the year, and to proceed with the proposed works without any assessment of the impact on these waves or without any input from surfers sends the wrong message not only outside of Clare but also outside of Ireland.”