This development is taking place on a cSAC (Special Area of Conservation) and pNHA (National Heritage Area). Dorrins Group, An Taisce and Department of Environment made submissions outlining concerns about these plans.

Subsequent to that Sligo Co Co Planners requested a more detailed study to be conducted in relation to the impacts of this development and requested justification for the need for expansion.

The answers to these questions are now supplied in the Further Information.

We believe that the latest further information does not adequately answer the questions and concerns stated at the outset. We will therefore be making further submissions to the Planning Department outlining our concerns.

You can get further information about this application on the Sligo Co Co Website at this link

LINK

If you believe this is development is a threat to the local environment you are within your rights to make a submission to the Planning Department at Sligo Co Co

Contact us at Dorrins [at] hotmail.com or leave comments below.

The Planning Office had requested further information on 30th September 2008 and the response was provided on Monday of this week. ie 30th June 2009.

We have not been able to obtain a copy of the information supplied and the staff at the planning office informed us verbally that the new information comprises a very lengthy report. We hope to get a copy of it in the next few days and we expect that it will be posted on Sligo Co Co website on Thursday of this week.

You can try to view it on the Council website at this link

LINK

This new development means that we have to work hard to try and figure out what the new information tell us and what our response to it will be.

It is a time for all “all hands on deck” If you have not been attending the meetings in recent times please be advised that our next meeting is Tuesday 7th July at Kelly’s Bar, Strandhill.

All are welcome

Dorrins Newsletter for 2008

Dorrins and Cummeen strand conservation group (DCCG) are delighted that Sligo Planning Authority indicate in their request for further information that this application must be considered under Article 6(4) of the EU Habitats Directive. Under this article planning can only be granted if three major conditions are met.

The first condition that must be met is that it must be proved that there are no alternatives to the plan.

This means there must be no alternatives regardless of preference or cost. Moving to a green field site would be considered an alternative option under this article unless it was proved for instance that there is no suitable location available.

Our legal advice is that no alternative does not mean just that the Airport company have no alternatives. It means that there is no other way of fulfilling the peoples needs for adequate air transport in the region.

We in DCCG strongly contend that the airport have totally failed to deal with the issue of alternatives. Only one option, that of building on a public beach, has been adequately explored. Under article 6(4) of the EU Habitats Directive it must be proved that there are no alternatives as defined by the act.

Even if it is established, beyond all reasonable doubt, that there are no other alternative solutions the Airport have another major hurdle to overcome in the second requirement under Article 6(4) of the Habitats Directive.

The second condition of the act requires that there must be “Imperative Reasons for overriding public interest”. In the guidelines imperative is defined as indispensible or fundamental.

Therefore the indispensible reasons for going ahead with this project must be established and the benefits, according to the act, must also be long term as the potential damage to the environment is long term.

We in DCCG have continually pointed out that Sligo airport have put forward no evidence or figures showing that the airport contributes in any significant way to the economy of the region nor have they produced a business plan which would indicate that they are likely to be viable into the future.

It is not enough for people to be assured on a day to day basis that there is no threat to Sligo airport. There must be a certainty that the airport is viable into the future.

Even people who don’t see how wrong and potentially disastrous it would be for the environment to build on this beach admit they don’t want to see up to ten million euros of tax payers money put into a hole in the ground for no economic benefit.

Under the EU Habitats directive article 6(4) imperative reasons for overriding public interest must be established.

The third condition states “Once the lack of suitable alternatives and the acceptance of imperative reasons of overriding public interest are fully ascertained and documented, all compensatory measures that are needed to ensure the protection of the overall coherence of the Natura 2000 network have to be taken”.

The airport have been given a maximum of six months to furnish the further information.

Ends

Reference:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/management/docs/art6/guidance_art6_4_en.pdf

• Preliminary Submission (16th August 2008)
  
• Main Submission (10th September 2008)
  

Sligo Airport Company withdrew their initial application and submitted a revised one in an effort to overcome concerns raised, by the Council’s Planning Department, about many elements of the proposed project.

Dorrins & Cummeen Strand Conservation Group (DCCG), local residents, visitors from all over Ireland and the UK, shellfish farmers as well as NGOs such as Birdwatch Ireland and Keep Ireland Open have all exercised their right to object to the destruction of Dorrins Strand. The Department of Agriculture – Coastal Zone and Marine Division (CZMD) made a submission in which they raised several concerns about the development and described the Environmental Impact Statement as “incomplete” in certain ways.

Chairman and Spokesman for the DCCG, John MacDermott said

“We are pleased with this growing support from the local and wider community. It is an endorsement for our highlighting the inherent dangers in a development of this scale on a public beach. We put the increase in opposition down to two things- (a) a greater awareness of the extent of the devastation that would be caused to this unique environment protected under local, national and EU law and (b) the fact that while all small airports are under severe economic pressures their application gave no evidence that Sligo airport will be able to overcome these difficulties and continue to operate into the future.

Sligo Airport did not establish any connection between having, or not having, this extension and the survival of the airport. Many people wanted to be assured that if they gave up their beach they would at least have an airport.”

DCCG are now calling on political representatives to take heed of the groundswell of public opinion on this subject. It is time for politicians to show political courage and leadership and draw up an integrated transportation policy and plan for Sligo and its environs and show what role air travel would play in such a plan.

Such a plan will have to take into account the new realities in our lives today with the need for sustainability and viability, the need to respect our environment, wildlife and our aquaculture industries.

We also ask the Planners in Sligo County Council to heed the many objections made in writing and reject this application.

If you are concerned about this issue, then you must make your concerns known to Sligo County Council by making a submission to the council that will arrive in planning offices before this date.

To assist you in this process, we have prepared 2 templates for download.

• A listing of possible reasons people might find to object to the Airport Runway extension & associated works (Download Issues Template)
• A general template letter of what a letter of objection might look like (Download Letter Template)

Please feel free to use this as a guide for formulating your own objection and add any additional comments or objections that are not listed in the attached documents. Your submission is not valid unless it is accompanied by €20 fee. Please feel free to forward these details to friends who may be interested in this issue (but were unaware that a new application was in play) and who may wish to object.

Again - you must be aware that if the submission is not received in council offices before 5.00pm on 11th September then it is invalid.

If you have questions or require any further information please send an email to dorrins@hotmail.com - and we will assist you with your submission.

Full details - including submissions received - are best viewed using Internet Explorer. If you need help installing the plugin needed to view the documents, Strandhill Online have a good guide on viewing planning applications from Sligo County Council.