Limerick campsite to close as planning permission refused

A CARAVAN park and campsite in Limerick is facing closure after opening without permission - with the owner saying he's invested €100,000 in the facility.

Council has denied permission for Jason Carmody to keep operating his business, Limerick Campsite and Aire, located just outside Feenagh in West Limerick.

Opened earlier this year, he says the site has space for seven motorhomes and three “glamping pods”.

The businessman, who is chairman of the Irish Motorhome Working Group, has acknowledged he did not initially seek permission from the local authority to develop and open the park.

“I put hardcore stone and gravel in, and I didn’t think this needed planning permission. It is on my own land, and I didn’t think a change of use from agricultural to commercial was needed just to park vans,” he said.

After he was told he would need to get planning permission to open, he applied to council for what is known as ‘retention permission’ to keep the facility.

This was refused by council last week, and, as a result, the businessman says the facility will close on September 1.

Mr Camody has claimed this has meant he has had to cancel 70 reservations between September and Christmas.

“I have put around €100,000 of my own personal money into that site to date. I pay my tax, I pay VAT. But my heart is gone out of this completely. I've nothing left other than to close down,” he said.

A number of local residents had written to council over the development.

One person wrote they had “experienced an increase in noise, traffic and littering”.

They also alleged they had witnessed dog fouling.

Another pointed to a lack of public water supply in the area, and the fact breeding buzzards have recently been reintroduced to the area.

“The concern that the site was developed in the absence of any planning or authority oversight is a serious worry and there is genuine concern for the impact and potential safety of the neighbouring community due to its lack of oversight,” the local resident wrote.

Mr Carmody says as a result of visitors to his park in Feenagh, there has been a boost to other businesses in West Limerick.

“I was only speaking with a few people the other day, and they were saying, they went to Newcastle West and spent money buying food in the local shops, they went to a restaurant in Abbeyfeale and they stopped off on the way home at the social farm in Kilmeedy. That’s exactly why we are here,” Mr Carmody said.

He pointed to research which shows that every couple staying in a motorhome spends on average €100 locally each day.

Mr Carmody is being supported by councillor Liam Galvin, who has held talks with both Mayor John Moran and council director general Dr Pat Daly.

He said: “In my opinion, these parks are badly needed throughout our county. We have an applicant trying to solve a problem that council can’t solve as we do not have the wherewithal to provide these caravan park sites. It just beggars belief.”

For its part, council does not comment on media queries relating to planning applications and decisions.

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But planners told Mr Carmody the application was turned down because it is contrary to the local development plan, which governs where things can be built.

Concerns were also raised about the treatment of effluent from the site.

Mr Carmody believes Ireland is losing out on millions of euro due to the lack of facilities for motorhome drivers.

“We are turning people away at our borders because they know when they come here, they’ve nowhere to park,” he said.