Dear Planning Department,
I wish to make the following submission to the CDP. I am an employee in the peat industry for the past 25 years, I and my wife have 5 children, 4 of whom are in full time education .I had recently investigated the possibility of establishing a rural based glamping experience, as our small farm holding(27acres) is very close to Irish national Stud, Curragh & Kildare Village, all key tourism destinations. Working through just transition I had developed a detailed business proposal and research of the project gave me great assurances of its potential success. However on engaging with Kildare County Council planning section, I discovered that there is no provision in policy to support such an enterprise.
I would greatly appreciate it if the CDP would include policies that support this concept. I understand that Kildare has great ambitions to develop the tourism sector in the County, which is very encouraging. However on reviewing CDP of other well establised tourism counties, such as Kerry & Galway, it is worth noting that they acknowledge the importance of having a broad range of accommodation offerings for visitors, both rural and urban but more particularly convenient to the bundling of attractions in the area. Kildare is rich with many valuable visitor attractions and the development of the Barrow Blue Way will inevitably broaden this base, however if the County wants to capitalise on these assets, affordable, strategic and diverse ranges of accommodation will be essential.
I look forward to re engage with the Planning Authority in developing a Glamping initiative in the County when a suitable policy that supports this valuable facility is included in the CDP.