Fears multiple studies on protected species will hinder North Cork developments

The EU directive protecting the freshwater pearl mussel has left planning officials with no choice but to reject a number of applications for developments along the River Blackwater.

The whole of the River Blackwater has been designated a protection area for the freshwater pearl mussel, even though a number of local public representatives claim the species is only present in some small sections.

Cork County Council is writing to a number of government departments and Irish Water amid concern that they may overlap various studies into the exact population of a protected species in a river in North Cork.

Councillors are concerned that too many studies on the freshwater pearl mussel in the River Blackwater could drag on and thus hinder further development along some stretches of it.