Coillte planning Laois Slieve Blooms café, toilets and bike hire centre

The Laois side of the Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trails will get a new café, toilets and bike hire centre, if plans by Coillte get the green light.

Coillte is midway through constructing 100km of off-road adventure mountain bike trails across the Laois Offaly mountain range, with some 9km completed on the Laois side near Monicknew, Mountrath, and 35km completed in total so far already in use.

This week they have announced their intention to seek planning permission from Laois County Council to build a new single storey National Mountain Bike Trail Head building.

It would have a café, bike hire facility, toilets, ancillary spaces and associated site works.

Permission will also be sought to build a wastewater treatment system, a new carpark, a bore well and a bike wash area.

They also seek permission to demolish an existing building, at Baunreagh, Co Laois. 

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Coillte intends to submit a Natura Impact Statement with their application, which would show how any potential impacts on nature by the development will be mitigated by them.

View the planning notice in the current issue of the Leinster Express.

The semi-state forestry company told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that similar additions elsewhere brought big numbers.

“Coillte recently lodged a planning application for a new café, bike hire centre and car park for the newly developed mountain bike trails at the Slieve Blooms.  This development, which is subject to planning permission, aims to greatly enhance the facilities available on site.  Other similar developments by Coillte at Ticknock forest in County Dublin and at Ardpatrick in County Limerick  for example have proven immensely popular with locals and visitors alike.”

The company said that as custodian of 440,000 hectares of forests and land, it is Ireland’s largest forest manager and largest provider of outdoor recreation. It has  260 recreational forests nationwide, including 3,000km of way marked walking trails, 12 forest parks and six mountain bike centres.  

“Coillte aims to balance and deliver the multiple benefits of its forests for climate, nature, wood production and people.

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“Coillte recently launched a new strategic vision for its future forest estate and among its key strategic ambitions under its forests for people objective includes doubling the number of recreation areas to 500, to benefit local communities and people’s wellbeing and enabling the investment of €100 million in world-class visitor destinations to support growth in tourism and recreation,” the company said.