A PROPOSAL by the developers of a controversial golf course in Portmarnock, Co Dublin, that Fingal County Council should fence off its famous dunes has been described as "outlandish" by the local Labour councillor.
Cllr Peter Coyle has warned that the scheme would prevent people walking part of the publicly owned dunes, with "far reaching consequences" for the amenity value of Portmarnock's popular Velvet Strand.
One of the main fears of a local action group which opposed the golf course development was that it would seriously restrict and, in some cases, eliminate long established public rights of way over the dunes.
IMG, which developed the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links, now wants the county council to erect a new fence, two metres high, on the seaward side of an existing fence marking the boundary of its property.
The proposal has been made to the council with the specific objective of restricting public access to the dunes to facilitate their restoration and re vegetation. The dunes have been suffering erosion in recent years.
Under the original proposal for the golf course, there was to be a low level fence of 0.5 metres along its eastern boundary. But IMG subsequently erected a "temporary" construction fence, two metres in height.
In 1994, the developers sought planning permission to retain this fence, but were refused by Fingal County Council. Despite objections from local people and by the council itself, they eventually won approval from An Bord Pleanala.
One of the board's conditions required IMG to adjust the alignment of the boundary fence, in consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), to reduce its "visual intrusion" as viewed from the Velvet Strand.
The developers have since argued that the visual impact of the fence "would be most usefully addressed by implementing a programme of restricted pedestrian access on the Velvet Strand side of the dune system.
"The elimination of public access in this area, coupled with a programme of dune restoration and re-vegetation works which would have to be undertaken by Fingal County Council on their lands would be the best method."
An official of the NPWS visited Portmarnock last week to inspect the existing fence and make a report to its political boss the Minister for Arts and Culture, Mr Higgins on IMG's plans to have it extended.
However, the NPWS has made it clear that preserving the visual amenity of the dune system is "primarily a matter for the local authority".
The council's planners want the fence relocated westwards away from the edge of the dunes and say it should be erected generally on a single contour line.
They also want IMG which is run by the world's most successful sports management agent, Mr Mark McCormack to provide a permanent pedestrian walkway on the seaward side of the fence.
To protect the dunes, the planners have recommended that this walkway should be in the form of a boardwalk on the landward side of the dune ridge and that the area between it and the golf course should be planted.
Cllr Coyle has called on the Fingal county manager, Mr Davy Byrne, to accept the advice of the planners rather than sanction IMG's "amazing" proposal to further restrict public access to Portmarnock's dunes.
