Dundalk councillors reject plans for recreation park at Navvy Bank
Councillors at the Dundalk Municipal District November meeting voted to reject Louth County Council’s Part 8 Planning for an urban recreational park at the Navvy Bank
Councillors at the Dundalk Municipal District November meeting voted to reject Louth County Council’s Part 8 Planning for an urban recreational park at the Navvy Bank, due to concerns over the appropriateness of a campervan site as part of the proposals.
At the meeting, the councillors also highlighted concerns over anti-social behaviour (ASB); a lack of sporting facilities;
The site proposed for the park, is the Louth County Council owned pitch and putt course located along the Point Road, with at total of area of c. 1.35 Ha.
The Navvy Bank walkway runs west to east along the northern boundary of the site. A 6m wide grassed area is located between the walkway and the pitch and putt course.
A pedestrian laneway borders the site’s eastern boundary which provides access to the Navvy Bank walkway, with a detached house and wooded grounds to the east of the laneway.
The site is bordered by the Point Road on its southern boundary. The Quay Celtic Football Club is located to the west of the pitch and putt course and further to the west is Seán O’Mahony’s Gaelic Football Club.
The proposed development at the Navvy Bank comprised:
- 23 new campervan sites
- Creation of 38 car parking spaces, seven electric vehicle (EV) spaces, and three disabled parking spaces
- Toilet facilities
- Creation of a new playground
- Provision for new family fun mini-golf facility
- New footpaths creating new connections to the Navvy Bank walkway
- Provision for kiosk buildings for casual trading
- Development of open green space to include seating
- Landscaping
- New fencing throughout the park
- Creation of a new bus stop on the Point Road
- Traffic calming measures on the Point Road
- New pedestrian crossing on the Point Road
- Inclusion of Nature Based Solutions for the management of surface water drainage
The proposed design included 23 serviced campervan sites, which would have power and water, with facilities for the disposal of foul waste to be located at the new toilet buildings.
The new toilets would have a foul water connection to the existing foul drainage infrastructure located on the Point Road.
A new welfare building was also proposed in the development with a direct connection to the foul water drainage network on the Point Road.
Louth Count Council received 109 valid submissions during the statutory timeframe from the public in relation to the proposed development, with submissions both for and against the proposals.
Submissions supporting the proposals included that it would enhance the range and quality of amenities in Dundalk; a valuable investment in community infrastructure; and encouraging responsible tourism.
Concerns in the submissions included: parking issues in local estates if adequate parking wasn’t provided; a campervan park could detract from the picturesque views of Dundalk Bay and the Cooley Mountains; additional noise and traffic; potential illegal dumping; the site not suitable for a campervan site; no local facilities; and that the site should be used for the two sports clubs (Seán O’Mahony’s GFC and Quay Celtic).
Louth County Council’s responses to the concerns included: the new car parking provided can be accessed by spectators attending the neighbouring playing pitches; it aligns with the Louth Tourism Policy and Action Plan 2026 - 2031 which seeks the provision of motorhome facilities at key locations; and it mitigates traffic and road safety concerns.
The Council also highlighted that in terms of community safeguarding and child safety, a “material distinction must be maintained between unvetted public access and a highly visible, structured family recreational park”; and also that “a clear distinction must be drawn between unregulated, unauthorised vehicular encroachment on residential green spaces and the highly managed, pay to access municipal tourist infrastructure provided by Louth County Council.”
At the November meeting, a number of councillors voiced both concerns and support for the project.
Cllr Maeve Yore was first to speak on the matter, saying she supported the proposal, saying it would provide much needed features, and said that with regards the campervan site, similar sites abroad and in Ireland have no ASB issues.
Cllr Yore added that there were concerns relating to the plans and that she received six representations in total from the public in relation to them, and that a discussion in needed in Louth in relation to sporting facilities, because “we’re running out of space”.
Cllr Yore further added that the work done by staff at the pitch and putt site over the years needed to be acknowledged, and included in any developments going forward.
Cllr Emma Coffey said that she supported the development of a recreational park and investment in local amenities, but opposed the campervan site at this location, Cllr Coffey told the meeting that she had lived the area since her childhood and knows how much the area means to the people who live there.
Cllr Coffey said that she received “more than six submissions” in relation to concerns over the proposal, including regarding parking issues, traffic, drainage concerns, and the shortage of sporting areas, which are long standing local issues.
Included in her comments, Cllr Coffey highlighted Seán O’Mahony’s GFC and Quay Celtic in her comments, saying that Quay Celtic has to turn children away as it doesn’t have sufficient spaces to train, and Seán O’Mahony’s can’t offer girls and ladies football because of the pitch congestion.
Cllr Coffey added that there would be other places that would be more suitable for the proposals and not a residential area such as this, and not in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Cllr Robert Nash commended the Louth County Council team for the amount of work it put into the project, and commended the designs put forwarded, but said there was objections and concerns over the project.
Cllr Nash said that he felt there was a lack of communications from the local authority with the local community in relation to the project, which has led to scepticism from the local community, and that there should have been an information day or a public consultation day.
He added that Quay Celtic and Seán O’Mahony’s could play an important role in the development of the site and perhaps secure funding that may not be available to Louth County Council.
Cllr Nash further added that residents in the area have put up with a lot of ASB in recent years, and that the biggest fear with this project was ASB and how it would be dealt with.
The Council executive told the meeting in response that the project would help address issues in relation to traffic and parking. The meeting heard that the Council had been in communication with local sports clubs over its plans and that the project was for the wider population, not just for sports.
The meeting was also told that the council also spoke to other local authorities and it had not come across any evidence of ASB at other campervan sites.
Other councillors including Cllr Marianne Butler, Cllr Sionainn McCann, Cllr Seán Kelly, also commended the designs and project but voiced their concerns over the proposed campervan site, with Cllr Shane McGuinness rejecting the plans completely.
Cllr Ciarán Fisher told the meeting that once the issue over potential ASB was removed, it was “hard to see fault of flaw” with the proposals and that he liked a lot of the elements of the project.
Cllr Kevin Meenan told the meeting that great work had been done on the proposals but felt that the could “have to go back to the drawing board”, in relation to the campervan site.
Following further discussions, councillors were advised that they could vote to reject the plans, but if they did they had to provide a reason for rejecting it.
The councillors then agreed to vote on the Part 8, with the reason for rejecting it being concerns in the local community regarding the campervan site element of the proposal.
11 councillors voted in favour of rejecting the Part 8 - Cllr Marianne Butler; Cllr Emma Coffey; Cllr Seán Kelly; Cllr Sionainn McCann; Cllr Shane McGuinness; Cllr Andrea McKevitt; Cllr Mhic Conchoille; Cllr Kevin Meenan; Cllr Robert Nash; Cllr John Reilly; and Cllr Antóin Watters, while Cllr Ciarán Fisher and Cllr Maeve Yore voted against rejecting the Part 8.