Hotel plan backed by locals appealed in Ballinskelligs
Plans to develop “a landmark building” overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay, in the south Kerry Gaeltacht, have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
The application for the three-storey building to replace former 12-bedroom hotel Cable O’Leary’s — linked to the transatlantic cable station era — attracted over a dozen submissions, many of them from holiday home owners.
Objections centred on the design and fears of mass tourism. And the original application revealed divisions between second homeowners and locals. However, the matter has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by two third-party appellants with addresses in Cork and Kenmare.
The existing hotel dates from 1894, the height of the transatlantic cable connection between south Kerry and North America, and was called after a local character involved in the laying of the cable and in fighting evictions.
The proposal by OS Properties is to demolish the building, currently operating as a bar and restaurant, and replace it with a three-storey 48-bedroom complex with a function room and gym, restaurant and bar, car and bus park. Permission had been granted by Kerry County Council.
The area has a large holiday home community, mainly from Munster and the eastern seaboard.
A local development body, set up to help develop the economy and social fabric of the depopulated Gaeltacht area, is hugely in favour of the project.
The group, Coiste Forbartha na Sceilge, had made two submissions supporting the developers, described as “a local family”.
“We desperately need this project,” the group said.
There are about 300 holiday homes in the area, many let on a short-term basis, but there was no accommodation for last-minute visitors who wanted to stay overnight and avoid driving to Cahersiveen or Waterville, the letter signed by eight directors said.
The group said 95% of observations during the planning process involved holiday homeowners or people retired to the area.
It said the “vast majority of the local population are fully behind the development and wish to see it proceed in its current format”.
During the winter, hill walkers and eco-tourists, as well as dark sky reserve enthusiasts, are regular visitors and the group said the new project would offer year-round employment.
Objections, mainly to the council application, had centred on ‘overshadowing’ and claimed the design for the new building was not in keeping with the cable station era and late 19th- century design of other buildings still in the area.
There were also concerns about light pollution as the south Kerry area is one of only a handful of gold standard dark sky reserves in the world.
Noise, the overlooking of a public beach, traffic on narrow roads which are a haven for cyclists and walkers were also among the original concerns.
Modifications, however, had been made in the original proposals, and Kerry County County Council granted permission for the project to proceed.
