Objectors halt major Buncrana development

A second major development planned for Buncrana has been knocked by because of objections for local residents. The Swilly Development was earmarked for the site of the former Lough Swilly Hotel on the town’s shorefront and was expected to provide up to 200 jobs in the construction industry. The project was granted full planning approval last month by Buncrana Town Council but the development has been halted as a result of a number of residents from nearby Swilly Road appealing the Council’s decision to An Bord Pleanala This is not the first time the development, which was to see the construction of 70 apartments, has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala - it was granted permission in 2006 by Buncrana Town Council and appealed to An Bord Pleanala in the same year. The decision was overturned by An Bord Pleanala in August that year – a process that delayed the project by four years. A spokespeson for the developers, Flanagans, said they were “very disappointed” with the current situation as it could take more than a year for the planners to make a decision. The spokesperson said:”It is extremely difficult to get a project off the ground in Buncrana due to local objectors. This development has now been appealed to An Bord Pleanala for the second time by the same objectors even though we have addressed all of An Bord Pleanala’s concerns. “An Bord Pleanala will now delay the project for over a year before they will make a decision. They may even decide to throw out the development again despite the fact that it has now been modified to their requests. It is difficult to be optimistic when you see that statistically two-thirds of all developments appealed to An Bord Pleanala are either thrown out or scaled back making them unviable.” The Swilly Development is the latest project to be appealed to An Bord Pleanala by local objectors. Only last month, McCallion Developments were forced to lay-off 16 workers after planners threw out plans for large commercial-residential scheme. It was a decision which saw the young people hit out at the objectors who, they claimed, were preventing them from “having a future.”