Galway Bay fm Newsroom:
An objection to a planning application to the first phase of a marine related industrial park in west Connemara has met with strong disapproval in the area.
The case relates to the development of a Marine Park in Cill Chiaráin, an area that is hit by some of the worst unemployment figures in the country.
Páirc na Mara - the Marine Park - in Cill Chiaráin is seen by Údarás na Gaeltachta as a lynchpin in its efforts to increase employment in areas of Connamara that are badly hit by a lack of jobs.
The first planning application relating to the Marine Park concerns an administrative office.
Billy Smyth, chairperson of the Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages group has lodged an objection to that application
Mr Smyth, who has an address in Shantalla in Galway city, says the office is part of a larger plan which could damage the Cill Chiaráin Bay and the Islands Special Areas of Conservation. He says no complete impact study of the effect salmon farming in the area has been carried out.
In relation to jobs, Mr Smyth claims the Wild Atlantic Way has improved the situation and he points to a range of services in the area.
The objection has been met with strong disapproval locally and a petition in support of the Marine Park is being circulated.
