Planners to block €7bn fun park

A €7 BILLION theme park proposed for North Dublin will be opposed by the planning department of Fingal County Council next Monday.

The planning department will recommend to the council that the project, called Vega City, should not proceed on the grounds that it would require 35 million visitors a year to be economically viable.

However, promoters of the Disney-style theme park intensified their campaign yesterday, publishing more details about the project and vowing to solve any problems raised by Fingal’s planning department.

Promoters say the project would make Ireland the largest holiday destination in the world and would create 40,000 direct jobs in Ireland and 25,000 support jobs.

United Entertainment Partners (UEP) confirmed that one of Ireland’s leading property developers, Owen O’Callaghan, has been appointed chairman of the company and major US investors are also backing the project.

Mr O’Callaghan will be one of the key Irish developers and investors in the 2,500-acre site along with Dubliner Louis Maguire, managing director of UEP.

But planners will tell a special meeting of Fingal County Council next Monday the promoters must not be given permission to even apply for planning because it is not economically viable.

On a project this big, the council has the power to make such a refusal because of the amount of resources which would be required to process the application.

However, Vega City promoters rejected this claim yesterday and insisted they can attract sufficient tourists if the proposed expansion of Dublin airport goes ahead.

“The planners have raised various issues which are not unexpected given the scale of the project and the consortium is adamant that it has the solution to the various issues raised by Fingal County Council,” said Mr O’Callaghan.

But the 37-page planners’ report, seen by the Irish Examiner, will urge rejection of the project because they say its viability is highly questionable.

The project needs 35 million visitors a year to survive. The developers say they can attract 18 million outside visitors and Irish people would account for 17 million visits. But planners say every Irish person would have to visit Vega City over four times a year and only 5.6 million foreign tourists came here last year.

Planners also fear that if the theme park does not attract predicted numbers then pressure would be put on the council to redevelop the site for housing and commercial developments.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce also questioned the project’s viability without the proposed expansion of Dublin Airport.