DEVELOPERS intent on building houses on Howth's East Mountain have been told to "back off" by a spokeswoman for the local action group which wants this largely unspoiled heathland to be preserved as a public amenity.
Before leading a protest march yesterday afternoon, Ms Jean Finn, of the East Mountain Action Group, made it clear that the developers would face determined opposition if they persisted with their plans. "We're saying that they should lay off Howth's high amenity areas," she said.
Two months ago, it was revealed that Allenspark Ltd controlled by Mr John Ronan and Mr Richard Barrett, of Treasury Holdings had bought 300 acres of land on the East Mountain from Mr Gerry McGuinness, the Dublin businessman, and the Howth Estate.
The company immediately sought a revised planning permission for a large house on the site of Heather Cottage. But while Ms Finn conceded that its design, by architects A & D Wejchert, was "much better" than previous schemes, she said any development in the area was unacceptable.
The battle to preserve the East Mountain started seven years ago when Dublin County Council, as it then was, approved plans for a luxury ranch house of over 5,000 square feet to replace the three roomed cottage. Multiple appeals to An Bord Pleanala resulted in this decision being overturned.
In 1991, Mr McGuinness secured planning permission for a scaled down house on the site, though he made no move to build it. Now, with this permission due to expire by the end of this month, Ms Finn said builders were "beavering away" on the site "to get as much of it up as possible".
Under planning law, the life of a permission may only be extended if substantial work hash been carried out. And although the developers would have preferred to build the revised scheme, they could not run the risk of letting the 1991 permission expire before putting a new permission in place.
Contacted yesterday by The Irish Times, Mr Ronan was not prepared to comment publicly on the matter. However, it is understood that his company might be prepared to consider demolishing the structure now being built on the Heather Cottage site if the revised scheme was approved.
Its architects, who designed the almost invisible visitor centre at the Ailwee Caves in Co Clare, say their low rise scheme is designed to be sympathetic to the "rugged landscape" and is conceived as "a grouping of granite walls which happen to enclose a place to live".
Fingal County Council has yet to make a decision on the scheme and wants a significant amount of additional information before doing so. But objectors see it as a "Trojan horse" to open up the entire East Mountain, stretching from Kilrock quarry to the Baily lighthouse, for development.
However, a spokesman for Allenpark strenuously denied that there was any truth in local rumours that it might seek permission for up to 3,000 houses. "This is just rubbish," he said. "Whatever is going to happen there will be very sensitive to the landscape and may not include any housing at all."
It is understood that Allenspark's long term strategy for the East Mountain is to hand over the bulk of its extensive holding to Fingal County Council, or some other public body, in return for planning permission to develop some of the "less sensitive" parts of the property.
Among the options being examined by the developers are an 18 hole golf course, with or without a hotel; a "limited number" of houses, a wind farm and even a cemetery. The company's spokesman said they would be willing to meet the East Mountain Action Group to discuss its future.
But Ms Finn said the group would make "no deals" with the developers.
"This is one of the most important wild landscapes Dublin has and we're now calling on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, to initiate its designation as a special amenity area, thereby protecting it from development," she said.
