Title: New Equestrian Centre Approved Near Buncrana

An equestrian centre has been given the green light near Buncrana. After clearing the planning hurdle, applicants Hubert and Lorna McLaughlin can now construct their proposed horse riding school. The McLaughlins had sought retention permission for a partial change of use of an agricultural shed to a commercial horse riding school in Cleenagh on the outskirts of Buncrana town.

The school will be located in the vicinity of Crana Stables, but will be a separate business as the applicants have no vested interest in Crana Stables.

The McLaughlins have also been granted permission to construct an indoor sand surface horse riding arena with access via an existing access road onto the public road. The indoor sand arena will be for personal use only, to practice for show jumping. The McLaughlin family-owned horses compete in competitions throughout Ireland.

Donegal County Council granted planning permission subject to seven conditions. These included that no surface water from the site is permitted to discharge onto public roads and the McLaughlins are to take steps to ensure that no public road water discharges onto the development.

The planning authority also stated that all sewage and slurry generated by the equestrian centre is to be transported through properly constructed channels to storage facilities. They also stated that no sewage or slurry should be discharged or allowed to be discharged into any stream, river, watercourse, or onto the public road.

Other conditions included that the applicants are to ensure that all overhead and underground poles and lines are to be repositioned with the new fenceline at the developers’ expense. While all trees, shrubs and hedgerows are to be retained and any tree or shrub species subsequently dying should be replaced. A contribution of €7,897 to Donegal County Council is to be made in respect of public infrastructure and facilities.