Illegal development ongoing at Inch Island

Significant, ongoing unauthorised development at Inch Pier is the subject of a planning enforcement notice from Donegal County Council, Inish Live can reveal.

Planning permission was not sought or obtained from Donegal County Council prior to the unauthorised development, which has taken place at and is continuing in a field at Grange at Inch Island.

In a statement to Inish Live on Wednesday, Donegal County Council confirmed there was an ongoing and active case regarding activity at this site.

The field lies on the right of a county road, leading towards Inch Pier and the shore of Lough Swilly, which is a Special Area of Conservation.

The scale and nature of some of the illegal works is contained in a council unauthorised development notice: UD 20127, which commenced in March 2020, at the onset of the Covid-19 lockdown.

In addition, in January 2022, construction commenced in a corner of the field, which was not highlighted or marked in the UD 20127 notice.

A unit of about 15 feet by 12 feet in dimensions has been built, with a concrete block cavity wall assembly, with two inch aeroboard cavity insulation.

Its total height is unknown as of yet, however, there are four blocks laid above the standard wall plate level of a typical one-storey building.

Speaking to Inish Live, a concerned member of the local community said, prior to January 2022, the area was a six acre field, historically used for farm purposes, cattle/sheep grazing and tillage.

The field also had a ten feet entrance gate, off the main vehicular road, with secure fencing along its perimeter, including the sea shore, for the security of livestock and the prevention of trespassers.

They said: “Prior to this unauthorised development, the pre-existing entrance to the farm field was controlled by a ten foot gate with a ditch on one side topped off with wire fending.

“This is now totally changed, with an entrance some three times wider. Real concerns would have to be raised from a health and safety perspective alone as to the extreme widening of this access point and the construction of a “car park “ measuring 15 metres by 15 metres.

“Hundreds of lorry-loads or thousands of tonnes of topsoil have been removed from this field and taken out of Inch Island completely, completely changing the original landscape.

“We do not know if this removal was in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

“In addition, hundreds of Tonnes of hard-core fill have been used to make what can be clearly seen is a twelve foot “roadway” from the county road directly onto the Lough Swilly shoreline / beach area. Since Donegal County Council's UD 20127 came into place, there has been a massive increase in the use of this “roadway” by both pedestrians and vehicles to gain access to the beach.”

In January, around the time the construction work on the building began, a large septic tank unit was brought on site and placed near the bottom end or shoreline end of the levelled area of stone hard-core. It has now been marked with a wooden peg.

Also, water connections, electric and phone line service junction boxes have been installed.

“This in itself would be symptomatic of a much larger scale extended future development plan in the vicinity,” said the concerned local.

“The shoreline itself, which remained undisturbed in living memory, has now been completely destroyed with track machinery breaking the rock shoreline into a constructed roadway, straight onto this once unspoiled area.

“Hard-core roadway has replaced natural greenery, rock formation and boulders that once were part of this coastline.

“The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has formally designated Lough Swilly as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Having viewed the maps of this SAC, it is clear the roadway which has been opened onto the beach, is in direct contravention of the protected status, provided by (NATURA 2000).

“There is no doubt, the person or people responsible for what has been outlined, have blatant disregard for the planning laws set out in this jurisdiction. It appears people have taken a 'wait and see' approach as to where this might end. Despite orders from Donegal County Council to disconnect water, remove the hard fill and recover with topsoil / sow with grass seed, amongst other directions, the opposite has happened, with further development taking place.

“It would appear that there are no ramifications or consequences for their actions.”