Museum’s benefits ‘outweigh visual impact’

THE promoters of Ireland’s planned largest road and rail museum in west Clare have stated that the very small level of visual disruption to the scenic area would be tiny compared to the project’s great benefits.

That’s according to consultants employed by West Clare Railway to advance its plan for the Moyasta museum.

The museum is to form part of the restored West Clare Railway attraction where visitors have trebled since the return of the 117-year old Slieve Callan steam engine last August.

However, last December, Clare County Council put the project on hold, stating that it had “serious concerns in relation to the height and scale of the development as proposed and consider that it would seriously impact on the visual amenities of this coastal site”.

Now, in its response, the West Clare Railway state: “The site is reasonably well hidden from most areas around the bay by token of the trees, hedges and businesses nearby.

“Its height will be kept as low as possible and, even then, will be below the height of the chimneys of all other buildings in the vicinity.”

The council state that it would be more appropriate to locate the development on alternative lands as it had concerns over the chosen site.

But the promoters insisted: “Numerous efforts have been made over the last 10 years to encourage the current owner of the three fields adjacent to the station — now forming the HQ of the WCR Co — to sell.”

“The land’s owner has consistently refused any offer, all of which have been made for sums well in excess of the land’s contemporaneous values. Such development, is therefore, out of the question.”