A representative of An Taisce has told a planning appeals hearing that the proposed €460m 'Tipperary Venue', to be built on an 800 acre site at Two Mile Borris, is ill-conceived and warrants comprehensive refusal.
The oral hearing is taking written and oral submissions in support of, and against, a decision by Tipperary County Council to grant the venue planning permission.
It will include a racecourse, a 500-room hotel, a golf course, a greyhound track, a casino, a 15,000-seater entertainment venue, and parking for 6,000 cars.
It is estimated it will create 1,000 construction jobs when it is being built, and another 2,000 are predicted when the venue is completed.
However An Taisce told the hearing, which opened in Horse and Jockey, Co Tipperary, today, that it had concerns about what it described as 'this overwhelming' development.
An Taisce estimates that the development will cost up to €30m in increased fuel and emissions, because of its remote location.
It warned that the venue would mean the redirection of 750m of river waters nearby to facilitate the construction, and that this would have ecological implications for habitats.
In addition, An Taisce says it would also have implications for the viable futures of both Limerick and Tipperary racecourses, and the newly-established greyhound track in Limerick.
The oral hearing is due to continue for a number of days.
It is due to hear tomorrow from a number of parties in the horse racing industry who are in favour of the development.
