SAVE THE SWILLY - September 24 ,2004

Mr Gerry Richards Planning Department Donegal County Council County House Lifford, Co. Donegal

John Mulcahy Carrablagh House Portsalon, Co. Donegal 07491-59113 ph 07491-59778 fax 086-2808636 mob Email: jonmul@eircom.net

24 September 2004

RE: DONEGAL COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN REVIEW

Dear Mr Richards,

Further to requests for submissions concerning the ongoing review of the County Development Plan, I would like to submit the attached on behalf of Save The Swilly (STS). STS is an umbrella organisation launched in 2001 and represents more than 30 groups around Lough Swilly who are concerned with the lack of an overall integrated plan for the coastal management of this area.

Donegal County Council has already undertaken various aspects of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM): participation in the EU LIFE-sponsored project which produced a "Guide to Rural Beach Management"; strategy plans for marine leisure; and, currently, a cross-border project on beach management, focused on Rossnowlagh and Benone.

Because there is no fully-integrated programme for managing the Lough Swilly coastline, in 2002 STS commissioned an independent study from the Coastal Studies Research Group, University of Ulster (Coleraine). Published in June 2002, a "Scoping Study for an ICZM strategy for Lough Swilly" (copy enclosed) was authored by the head of the Coastal Studies Research Group, Dr Andrew Cooper and Anne-Marie O'Hagan. In the university's press release which accompanied the report's publication, Dr Cooper pointed out that economic opportunities may be being missed:

"This study identifies the various management structures currently operating in Lough Swilly and concludes that they are clearly not integrated, as recent EU recommendations suggest. The various groups are not working together to make best use of the valuable resource that exists within the lough. Subsequently, major economic development opportunities are being missed. It is also clear from our research that insufficient information exists for informed decisions to be made for the future management of the Swilly. . . . An assessment of the carrying capacity for different uses, their potential socio-economic benefit and resource use conflicts would provide the foundation for sustainable development. . . . Ireland as a whole and Donegal County Council have accepted the ICZM principle. We trust this report will be a significant step forward in helping the council to implement an ICZM initiative for Lough Swilly."

In October 2002, Dr Cooper conducted a seminar on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Letterkenny, open to all. Representatives of Northern Regional Fisheries Board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, fish-farmers, commercial fishermen, tourism providers, along with members of the general public attended. Dr Cooper stated that Donegal County Council is the body best placed to initiate an ICZM project for Lough Swilly.

In February 2003, Dr Cooper gave a presentation briefing on Integrated Coastal Zone Management to the Inishowen Electoral Area Committee. He also covered the basic points of the Scoping Study and answered questions from various politicians present. Save The Swilly was then invited to approach Donegal County Development Board, requesting permission to make a similar presentation. Unfortunately, no acknowledgement of this request was forthcoming.

On 15 September 2004, representatives of Save The Swilly attended the County Development Plan Review public meeting in Milford, at which time the outline submission proposal attached here and a copy of the Scoping Study was passed to a representative of the council.

Please accept the enclosed Submission Re: Donegal County Development Plan 2006-2010 and the accompanying documentation as our official submission to the plan review.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me or Dr Andrew Cooper.

Yours sincerely,

John M Mulcahy
encls

cc: Dr JAG (Andrew) Cooper
Head, Coastal Research Studies Group
School of Environmental Studies
University of Ulster
Cromore Road
Coleraine, BT52 1SA
PH: (44) 2890-368310

Mr Tony Morrison
Chair, Save The Swilly
c/o Buncrana Anglers' Association
Castle Lane
Buncrana, Co. Donegal
PH: 07491-9363733

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