Statement of Reply from Developers of Wheel Inn Complex.

 The first application for permission on this site, which was for 68 houses, was granted by Cork County Council subject to a number of conditions and was appealed by Mr. Neil Jordan and An Taisce.  This appeal proved to be successful and permission was refused by An Bord Pleanala.

The developer then had revised plans prepared for a much-reduced development of only 41 houses, no marina and a much-reduced complex centre and a swimming pool/leisure centre.  In preparing those plans the reasons given by An Bord Pleanala for its refusal were addressed and every effort was made to minimise the impact of the development on the local environment.

The concerns raised by Mr. Neil Jordan were also addressed and to this end a meeting was arranged with Mr. Neil Jordan between Padraig Murphy Consulting Engineer, on behalf of the developer and by two local independent representatives,  Mr. Denis Regan, Chairman, Beara Action Group and Cllr. Noel Harrington

An open and frank discussion was held and the plans of both the earlier application and the revised application, which at this point in time had been lodged with Cork County Council, were exhibited to Mr. & Mrs. Jordan.This on 31^st  May  2003.

Mr. Jordan has issued statements to the press and media indicating that he requested a legal covenant concerning the swimming pool.  Detailed notes taken by Mr. Murphy of the meeting do not reflect any discussion with regard to a covenant, and for that matter there was no request by Mr. Jordan with regards to the swimming pool.

This is confirmed by the two independent representatives.

To further clarify matters herein, this application for 41 houses is submitted for short term letting in order to qualify under the Holiday Cottage Tax Breaks.  This holiday cottage tax break is about to expire and to qualify the application had to be lodged prior to the 30^th of May 2003.  This was done, in that the application was lodged on the 28^th of May.  The other stipulation is that all works must be completed before July 2006.

At the time the application was made, that deadline was the 31^st of December 2004.  However, section 25 of the Finance Act 2004 extended that completion period to the 31^st of July 2006

Because of the stringency of those deadlines, when the application was lodged with Cork County Council it was clearly indicated as part of the submission that the entire development was going to be built simultaneously i.e. no effective phasing, all houses and swimming pool and all facilities were to be built together in order to qualify under the finance act.

The situation herein is quite clear.  This development, if it is to proceed, can be constructed.  There is no second chance.  All deadlines have now passed and the tax breaks that render this development feasible from an economic point of view are still available but will not be if this application is refused.

The developer is very disappointed, that after going to extreme lengths and efforts to satisfy the concerns and objections raised by Mr. Jordan and to having sent a representative to meet him to discuss the matter in detail, that Mr. Jordan did not feel free to contact him by phone or to have his legal representative or his other agents to make any contact or to return phone calls or correspondence sent to them before issuing this statement. 

The reason that the developer is so disappointed that Mr. Jordan did not contact him prior to his statement is that a detailed note of phone numbers was taken by Mr. Jordan, so that such contacts could be maintained should he have any queries in the future.

The reason that the developer is so disappointed that Mr. Jordan did not contact him prior to his statement is that a detailed note of phone numbers was taken by Mr. Jordan, so that such contacts could be maintained should he have any queries in the future.

Mr. Jordan has stated in his statement to the press and media and in his objection that his principle concern herein is the phasing of the development.  However, it is quite clear that had he carried out an inspection of the planners file, he would have read where Sean Taylor the Executive Planner for the area clearly stated and I quote from his report as follows; “given that we have accepted the principle of the proposal, if permission is granted the following conditions should apply.  The whole development will need to be phased.  I would recommend that the swimming pool/leisure centre is part of the initial development as this is the area that will have the largest community benefit.”  It is quite obvious from that report that the reason the phasing was made a condition was to allow the swimming pool and leisure centre to be built as part of the initial development.  Notwithstanding the fact that on the 28^th of May 2003 the question of phasing was addressed in our submission when it stated that “all holiday homes and facilities will be constructed simultaneously”.  The reason for this is the strict deadlines that apply under the finance act that have been clearly declared above.

Other submissions that have been made to the local authority in the course of this application are as follows. 

A.                 The fact that the leisure complex and swimming pool would be open all year around and would be available to local people has been clearly indicated.

B.                 A free bus link to the local town is also proposed.

C.        There is a provision for a bus depot indicated on the new site layout plan as requested by condition again of the planning permission granted by Cork County Council, and this is to facilitate school children being dropped to and from the development.

Also of interest is the fact that this pool was specifically designed to cater for the Roinn Na Mara requirement of having a 2 metre depth to facilitate the training of fishermen attending the local fishery training school.

Finally, in Mr. Jordan’s own submission, under the first line of the second paragraph it clearly states and I quote “our client is not opposed in principle to appropriate development taking place on the site”.  I cannot see anything what is more appropriate to occur on the site than what is proposed at present.  This site, contrary to Mr. Jordan’s submission, is not idle with 20 years, it  held a publican`s license in 1995. 

Secondly, mobile homes and holiday chalets existed on the site until the year 2000, when the first application was being prepared.  Mr. Jordan has made great play on the swimming pool aspect.  We are now clearly and openly stating that we have no difficulty in giving any undertaking that Mr. Jordan wishes to have to guarantee the building of this pool.

The above undertaking is available for Mr. Jordan to accept at any time and to allow this development to proceed in the interest of the Beara Peninsula, Tourism and the Local Community, who will all benefit if this project will go ahead.  If the project will not go ahead, the possibility of gaining such facilities for the Beara Peninsula again in the future are very slim due to the demise of the tax scheme that is facilitating this development.