‘Hardship’ for West Cork communities over protected nature sites

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

A West Cork slipway that can’t be cleared of sand without written permission from the minister is one of the unforeseen consequences of Natura 2000 – a European Union-wide network of important ecological sites set up to protect wildlife and habitats.

Much of the West Cork coastline has been designated as a Natura 2000 site, either as a Special Protection Area (SPA) or a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Those designations are now causing hardship for local people and in some cases preventing much-needed development and infrastructure projects, West Cork Councillors say.

At this week’s meeting of Cork County Council, Councillors Finbarr Harrington and John Michael Foley called on the Council to write to the government to seek permission from the European Union to carry out an urgent review of Cork’s designated Natura 2000 sites.

“In my own West Cork, working harbours, piers and slips were taken into SACs and these are causing unbelievable amounts of difficulties for ourselves as a local authority to do repairs to these piers because we must carry out all kinds of EIAs [Environmental Impact Assessment] before we get to do it,” Cllr Harrington said.

“In relation to rural planning, where you have young couples that are just applying for planning permission for a normal family home to live in it, our planners are obliged to notify them that they're building in an SAC or an SPA or an NHA [Natural Heritage Area] and they must go off and do EIAs, which is costing them thousands and thousands of euros,” he added.

Cllr Harrington cited the Garnish slipway at the tip of the Beara Peninsula, which is used by recreational sailors, fishermen and the Coast Guard. Sand builds up at the tip of the slipway over the winter but because it’s in the Kenmare SAC, ministerial permission has to be sought to remove the sand.

Many of the designations were mapped decades ago and have not kept pace with updated ecological knowledge or with the practical realities faced by rural communities, according to Cllr Foley.

“Right now in County Cork, homeowners struggle to get planning permission for modest homes. Farmers are restricted in their ability to work their land. Local councils find critical infrastructure projects delayed or blocked entirely in many coastal areas. Renewable energy and rural development projects, crucial for meeting Ireland and Europe's climate goals, are held back,” he said.

“We're not asking to dismantle conservation efforts, but we need to be able to complete coastal erosion problems where farms are falling into the sea, roads are falling into the sea. We need to be able to work on things, we need to be able to work on essential works like working harbours. We're not asking for a dismantling of the SECs, they're great, but we are asking for a common-sense approach where we can work,” said Cllr Foley.

The Council agreed to write to the government to ask for a review of the Natura 2000 mapping.