Two objections have been lodged with Dublin South County Council against Horse Sport Ireland’s (HSI) planning permission for its development at Greenogue.

One was from Chris Byrne of CoilÓg Equestrian Centre. The second also came from Chris Byrne but this time it was on behalf of the Equestrian Competition Venue Owners Alliance (ECVOA).

HSI plan

HSI’s plan for the centre of excellence is as follows:

“To create a sport horse centre of excellence comprising a new indoor sand arena (3,759sq metres); extension of the existing outdoor jumping sand arena to a total of 4,000sq metres; extension of existing indoor arena to 1,625sq metres; build a two-storey training and administration facility; a veterinary shed; a hay shed, a two-storey visitor toilets, lockers and storage facility and a single-storey building to accommodate a laboratory for an assisted reproduction programme.

“The proposed development also includes the provision of 50 car parking spaces within the existing yard; 20 bicycle parking spaces; plant; hard and soft landscaping; boundary treatments; increased hard standing areas for parking and turning of horse boxes; and all associated site development works above and below ground at this 7.88ha site.”

The objections

The ECVOA objection reads as follows:

1 The beneficiary of the application is not solely the applicant.

2 The application contravenes the road development plan for the area.

3 It impacts on the traffic management of the area.

4 The stated use of the premises is incompatible with the parking requirements.

5 Use of the proposed development is not confined to elite training of performance athletes as outlined in the application.

6 Insufficient advertisement of the planning notice was provided and not in the trade journals which are industry specific.

Chris Byrnes submission includes those same basic points but he also adds: “The proposed development by HSI, which is government funded, will displace existing enterprises.”

As I see it, the objections may not be beyond resolution. Yet the fact that they were submitted highlights the gulf that has opened between HSI and a section of the existing professionally run equestrian centres.

During a lengthy conversation with Chris Byrne this fact became abundantly clear.

“Venues with two and three generations of experience in running the sport were not even consulted on this and HSI did not feel the need to consider our concerns. In their long-term strategy is HSI going to compete with us? We had no option but to submit objections,” Chris said.

Acting CEO of HSI Joe Reynolds says: “It is beyond belief that somebody within the equestrian industry would object to what we are trying to do for the sport.”

The fact is, both Chris and Joe are passionate about the sport and this in the long run may be the bridge that can bring them into consultation and agreement.