Case: OCE-139328-M4W5V4
Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Glenveagh National Park Woodland Management Strategy
Glenasmole Valley
AIE-104-2023
Summary: Castlekelly townland within Glenasmole Catchment
- Acquired by the State in 2016 to form part of the Wicklow Mountains National Park.
- 1982 Hectares
- Some of the lands are also part of the Wicklow Mountains SAC and Wicklow Mountains SPA
- Legal obligation on the State to restore the site condition to Favourable Conservation Status
The Development of a Gully Woodland Restoration Plan for the Upper River Dodder Catchment and the
Identification and Assessment of Generic Issues of Relevance for Future Similar Projects in Ireland
Proposed National Parks and Wildlife Service Glenasmole Catchment Project
Proposed measures
Presentation on the project
NPWS Upland Woodland Potential (Castlekelly)
Pleadings in the Commission SAC enforcement case against Ireland
Request: All of the written pleadings including annexes in case C-444/21, Commission v Ireland
https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/pleadings_in_case_c_44421
C 444 21 Ireland Rejoinder EN Redacted.pdf
LS reply to 2023 3811.pdf
C 444 21 Germany Statement in Intervention EN Redacted
C 444 21 Commission Application EN Redacted
C 444 21 Commission Observations on Germany Statement in Intervention EN Redacted.pdf
C 444 21 Ireland Defence EN Redacted.pdf
C 444 21 Commission Reply EN Redacted
Follow on request for some of Ireland’s technical annexes
https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/copies_of_specific_annexes_to_th
Request for the following documents:
Annex B.5 “Projects and Programmes delivering site based measures at Special Areas of Convervation on a species or habitats basis”
Annex B.6 “List of 79 Special Areas of Conservation in respect of which a full suite of conservation measures has been identified and implemented”
Annex B.7 “Illustrative examples of Special Areas of Conservation in respect of which there are complete conservation measures in place”
Annex B.10 “Sites in respect of which there are Activities Requiring Consent and the specific Activities Requiring Consent in place in respect of each individual site”
Annex B.11 “Sites in respect of which there are Notifiable Actions and the specific Notifiable Actions in place in respect of each individual site”
Annex B.12″List of notifiable actions.”
Informal appeals process, designations (DAAAB)
No records found
AIE request 093-2023
List of informal decisions made by DAAAB to include:
- date of decision
- SAC / SPA / NHA name
- SAC / SPA /NHA code
- result of the decision
- composition of the DAAAB board making the decision
- any supporting documentation submitted in relation to DAAAB informal decisions, eg
meeting minutes/agendas, biodiversity reports commissioned, Board guidance in relation to
informal vs formal decisions, etc
Glenasmole restoration plan
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/001209
Site code: 001209
Designation: Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
County: Dublin
Coordinates: Latitude: 53.2415 Longitude: -6.36331
SAC Area: 148Ha
Qualifying Interests
Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (* important orchid sites) [6210]
Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-silt-laden soils (Molinion caeruleae) [6410]
Petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion) [7220]
Belleek Woods Pond, Castel Road, Ballina
Mayo County Council – Planning Application: 23172
River MOY Search and Rescue Ballina CLG
Proposed enhancement works at Belleek Wood Pond, Castel Road, Ballina, Co. Mayo
DAAAB membership, agendas, minutes
AIE request 054-2023
26th September 2018, hearing to hear the Appeal of [redacted] against the inclusion of lands in Lough Corrib
SAC (Site Code: 000297)
Members of Board redacted apart from the following:
Maryellen Sacco Power, Secretary
Rebecca Teasdale, Conservation Ranger, NPWS
“Board is advisory in capacity and makes a recommendation to the Minister on an ecological and scientific basis and that they are
unable to consider planning permission or monetary value”
“The Secretary pointed out that the Board have no say in planning permission and clarified that the recommendation would remain the same”
Lough Corrib SAC Appeals [all text redacted]
Letter to Minister [Redacted]
NPWS Report [redacted]
Map [Redacted]
Appendix 1: Lough Corrib cSAC appeal No.
Map scale: 1:15,000
Map [Redacted]
Appendix 2: Lough Corrib cSAC Appeal
Map Scale: 1:5,000
Map, redacted
Map, redacted
Map, redacted
Map, redacted
Note
Chairman of DAAAB is Denis Daly
Appointment of Chairperson – Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board (DAAAB) for SACs and NHAs
Date Released: Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Heather Humphreys, T.D. Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has appointed Mr. Denis Daly as Chairperson for the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board (DAAAB) for SACs and NHAs following an assessment of applications received for the recently advertised position.
The DAAAB makes recommendations to the Minister in cases where landowners/users object to the inclusion of their land in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) or Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs). It is independent of the Department and reports directly to the Minister. The DAAAB was previously Chaired by Mr. Sean Duignan who retired from the position.
Mr. Daly was selected from a list of applicants assessed using the following criteria: candidate’s background, communication skills, experience as a Chairperson, availability and any conflicts of interest that might arise.
From Kiskeam in North Cork, Denis Daly is a practising barrister.
DAAAB Board
The Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board (DAAAB) is comprised of:-
A Chairperson: Mr Denis Daly for appeals against Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Natural
Heritage Areas (NHAs)
or
Ms Ciana Campbell for appeals against Special Protection Areas (SPAs) – and a representative
balance of the competing interests involved which are as follows :-
Two people will participate from each of the following panels;
- Landowners/Users Panel: as represented by the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish
Creamery Milk Suppliers Association and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation - Conservation Organisations Panel: Nominated by the Environmental Pillar, drawn from
organisations participating in the Pillar. Frequent representatives are from organisations
such as BirdWatch Ireland, Coastwatch Ireland and the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
A quorum consists of the Chairperson and two Advisory Board nominees, one member should be
from each of the aforementioned Panels.
The actual Board members who will be present at a specific appeal would be confirmed when the
details and nature of the appeal(s) are known and the hearing is being scheduled. Considerations
would be given to the type of land under appeal, availability of individual Board members, the
appellants, their ecologists and the number of appeals being heard at each meeting.
Notes, supplied outside AIE Regs
The only permanent members of the DAAAB are the chairpersons.
The landowners/users panel has been represented by the IFA and ICMSA for a number of years, the persons representing can change depending on availability and their organisations nomination. The most recent nominations were Pat Dunne, Eamonn Nee and Tom Turley from IFA and Denis Drennan, Patrick Rohan and John O’Donnell from the ICMSA.
The Conservation panel of the board is nominated by the IEN depending on the appeal being considered. The IEN have nominated people from Birdwatch Ireland, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council and Coastwatch Ireland within the last few years.
Regular nominations by the Environmental Pillar have been Ralph Sheppard and John Cromie from Birdwatch Ireland, Karin Dubsky from Coastwatch and Tristram Whyte from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
None of these people are full members of the Board and attendance would be based on availability, the area under appeal and nomination by the Environmental Pillar.
Fintan Kelly, Alex Copeland, Ralph Sheppard, Karin Dubsky, Tristram Whyte and John Cromie have all been nominated by the IEN in the years 2017 to date.
Notes
Eamonn Nee, Galway IFA Hill Farming Chairman
Pat Dunne, IFA Hill Committee Chairman
Tom Turley, IFA Connacht regional chair
Denis Drennan, ICMSA Deputy President
Patrick Rohan, ICMSA’s Farm and Rural Affairs Committee, non-executive director of Kerry Group
Karin Dubsky, marine ecologist, co-founder of Coastwatch Europe,
Part 4. Of AIE-054/23
Details of the number of appeals heard by the Board and the outcome of each appeal from 2017 to 2023 (to date), to include details of the area that was subject to appeal.
The following are the number of appeals heard by the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Appeals Board (DAAAB), the outcomes of those appeals and area from 2017 to date.
In 2017:
One unsuccessful appeal in respect of SPA 004039.
Two successful appeals in respect of SPA 004149.
One appeal which was withdrawn in respect of SPA 004181.
One was unsuccessful and three were partially successful in respect of SAC 001625.
One unsuccessful appeal in respect of SAC 000709.
Five unsuccessful and four partially successful appeals in respect of SAC 000297.
One unsuccessful appeal in respect of NHA 000122.
In 2018:
One Partially successful appeal in respect of NHA 002431.
Two partially successful and one appeal withdrawn in respect of SAC 000297.
One partially successful appeal in respect of NHA 002364.
One successful, seven partially successful and three unsuccessful appeals in respect of SPA 004149.
2019:
One successful and three unsuccessful appeals in respect of SPA 004149.
One successful appeal in respect of SAC 000297.
One partially successful appeal in respect of NHA 002364.
2020: No appeals heard by the Board.
2021: two partially successful appeals in respect of SAC 002158.
2022: No appeals heard by the Board.
2023: No appeals heard by the Board to date.
Links to relevant sites on NPWS website
2017:
One unsuccessful appeal in respect of SPA 004039.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004039
Two successful appeals in respect of SPA 004149.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004149
One appeal which was withdrawn in respect of SPA 004181.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004181
One was unsuccessful and three were partially successful in respect of SAC 001625.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/001625
One unsuccessful appeal in respect of SAC 000709.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/000709
Five unsuccessful and four partially successful appeals in respect of SAC 000297.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/000297
One unsuccessful appeal in respect of NHA 000122.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/nha/000122
2018:
One Partially successful appeal in respect of NHA 002431.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/nha/002431
Two partially successful and one appeal withdrawn in respect of SAC 000297.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/000297
One partially successful appeal in respect of NHA 002364.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/nha/002364
One successful, seven partially successful and three unsuccessful appeals in respect of SPA 004149.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004149
2019:
One successful and three unsuccessful appeals in respect of SPA 004149.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004149
One successful appeal in respect of SAC 000297.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/000297
One partially successful appeal in respect of NHA 002364.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/nha/002364
2021:
Two partially successful appeals in respect of SAC 002158.
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/002158
Assessment of the measures established in special protection areas and their effectiveness
Final Report
Written by The N2K Group, October 2022
According to the Birds Directive, Member States must classify the most suitable territories in number and size as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for the conservation of species listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive.
Annex I species must also be the subject of special conservation measures concerning their habitat to ensure their survival and reproduction in their area of distribution.
Member States must take similar measures for regularly occurring migratory species not listed in Annex I, bearing in mind their need for protection as regards their breeding, moulting and wintering areas and staging posts along their migration routes.
In total, 5407 sites have been classified as SPAs across the EU, covering altogether 527,567 km of land and a further 304,516 km at sea (Status Dec 2021). SPAs form an integral part of the EU-wide Natura 2000 network.
Now that the SPA network is considered largely complete, Member States’ focus is on ensuring the effective protection and management of the sites within the network. This study aimed to assess the implementation of the measures established in Special Protection Areas and their effectiveness.
It included five main tasks, which involved the following: 1. Selection of a representative sale of SPAs to carry out the assessment 2. Analysis of the classification of the SPAs. 3. Assessment of the conservation objectives set and the conservation measures established in the SPAs. 4. Assessment of the implementation of the conservation objectives 5. Assessment of the effectiveness of the measures implemented in terms of improving or at least not deterioration the status of the bird species populations presents in the SPAs.
The assessment was carried out by the N2K Group using its network of experienced independent experts for each of the 10 Member States selected. Tasks 1-3 were carried out by the experts themselves using all available information they could find on the selected SPAs (including for instance, the Standard Data Forms, the legal acts, site management plans, official government websites, etc).
However, for tasks 4-5, it quickly became clear that the level of information available on the effective implementation of conservation measures in SPAs is generally very scant and incomplete.
It was therefore decided to consult the site managers and relevant stakeholders in order to gather standardised information from them on these issues. This was done via a questionnaire and followed up with telephone calls where appropriate to help the managers complete the respective sections of the questionnaire in as time efficient way as possible for them. In total, 180 responses were received for 96 SPAs.
The questionnaire is provided in annex 2. The present report provides a summary of the main findings of the study (based on more detailed individual reports prepared for each task) and draws some overall conclusions at EU level as to the management effectiveness of the sample 100 SPAs examined.
A summary of key findings for each of the ten Member States investigated (Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) is also presented in a second part of the report.
Magheramore Beach Development – Planning Application Documents (Wicklow)
Paddy McKillen jnr
Integrated Tourism / Leisure / Recreations (ITLR) Complex
Planning Application
Application Documentation
Planning Report
Architect Design Report
Flood Risk Assessment
Hydrogeological Investigation and Well Testing at Magheramore, Co Wicklow
Sample Objection
Traffic & Transport Assessment
Media
https://www.greystonesguide.ie/magheramore-beach-gets-pimped/
https://afloat.ie/port-news/dun-laoghaire-news/dun-laoghaire-baths/itemlist/tag/Magheramore%20Beach
Curlew Wintering – Conservation Campaign
https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-destruction-of-the-curlew-wintering-grounds-at-magheramore