COASTWATCH STAGED a walkout from a meeting yesterday with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) over its plan for the restoration of an important “grey dune” site in Co Wexford, which has been degraded by years of use for cattle storage.
The Tinnaberna Sandhills special area of conservation, near Kilmuckridge, has been a bone of contention between Coastwatch and the NPWS since local farmer John Bailey began stocking it with cattle in 2001; the cattle were only removed this year.
Paul Laird, of Coastwatch, said he and its co-ordinator Karin Dubsky had walked out of yesterday’s meeting after it became clear that the draft restoration plan prepared by the NPWS would “leave vast quantities of cattle dung in situ for the winter”.
He said no satisfactory reason was given for this, even though it was “counter to all objectives of the water framework directive, good farming practice and common sense as sand which accretes [to the dunes] will become contaminated and may have to be removed”.
Mr Laird also complained that the draft restoration plan, which has yet to be signed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, also envisaged “the perpetrator of the destruction is to be allowed to carry out all restoration works, despite being completely unqualified”.
However, a source close to the NPWS said this was in line with the “polluter pays principle”. The works would also be carried out under supervision in line with a restoration plan that would have “legal clout”, with significant penalties for failure to comply with its terms.
“Coastwatch wants the dung removed immediately, but our experts say that isn’t a good idea because it would run the risk of undermining the dunes – for example, if there was a major sand blow-away due to a winter storm. Thus, removal now runs risk of doing more damage.”
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said there had been consultations with Coastwatch, the landowner involved and the IFA. “Coastwatch has played a major role on this and many other sites, and their work on coastal protection is to be commended,” he said.
“The NPWS and the department hopes to engage further with Coastwatch on this issue, and the priority has to be the restoration of Tinnaberna dunes and their long-term protection on the basis of the best scientific advice available to us,” the spokesman added.
