Permission granted for alterations to proposed major Donegal Town tourist resort

Donegal County Council has agreed to alterations to a major proposed Donegal Town tourism resort.

A planning application submitted by Seamus Quinn was granted by the planning authority, altering a previously approved application from 2022, meaning the removal of a planned nursing home and including more tourist accommodation availability. 

The planned resort, which is to be situated in Revlin, next to Four Masters GAA grounds, has been approved for 60 one-storey and two-storey cabins/lodges, consisting of 16 one-bed cabins, 10 two-bed cabins, five three-bed cabins, and 29 four-bed cabins.

Although under the initial proposed alteration of 68 cabins/lodges, the altered planning permission is significantly more than the 37 holiday chalets granted by Donegal County Council in 2022.

Further plans included a single-storey reception building containing a restaurant, shop and ancillary areas, a two-storey bedroom block containing 20 bedrooms, a staff accommodation building, a gym, a cinema, two studios, a spa, and tennis courts with a toilet building.

Alterations to existing stone sheds to provide a manager’s office and a bike rental facility were included in the new proposals, along with all associated site development works, including a car park with 77 spaces, roads, paths, landscaping and foul/storm drainage.

The previously approved nursing home comprising 80 bedrooms within the planned tourist resort is not included in the altered planning permission. 

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Paul Doherty Architects Ltd, on behalf of the applicant, stated: “The concept for the overall development is to provide a holiday resort which is unique in its presentation and context and provides an alternative style of accommodation offering and sylvan setting to tourists on the Wild Atlantic Way and generally to tourists visiting Donegal Town.

“The concept has been developed over a period of time in consultation with Failte Ireland and various tourism consultants and designers, and the proposal to provide for timber or stone cladding to the holiday home units is seen as an integral part of the overall concept and image for the holiday resort development.”

In a separate document, Paul Doherty Architects Ltd commented: “The proposal will support the principle of resource-related activity-based tourism developments (e.g. walking, cycling, horse riding, fishing/angling, water sports, outdoor pursuits and will provide multi-functional buildings to enable the use by small local tourism businesses as a tourism base for offsite activity-based tourism activities.”

It concluded: “It is proposed that 30% of the holiday accommodation units/holiday chalets shall be maintained for long-term lease, while the roads, services, lighting and landscaping will be managed by the management company established for the management of the overall development. 

“The remainder of the proposed holiday accommodation will be purposed for short-term lease/rental and will provide a unique alternative tourism accommodation offering along the very successful Wild Atlantic Way, on the route to the Slieve League cliffs, which has visitor numbers of over 200,000 per annum.”

Donegal County Council granted the revised planning permission with 51 conditions, including a condition that the applicant pay a contribution of €566,271.98, in respect of public infrastructure and facilities benefitting the development in the area of the Planning Authority that is already provided, or is intended will be provided by the Authority. 

Another condition placed upon the application was that before any part of the development commenced, the developer should provide adequate security in the sum of €50,000 to the Planning Authority to ensure satisfactory completion of all works on Revlin Road.