Extension Approved for Muff Community Park Project

Muff Community Development Co-op Society Ltd (MCD) has been granted planning permission by Donegal County Council for a significant extension to Muff Community Park, subject to four conditions.

MCD, founded in 1995, is a social enterprise and cross-community registered charity that acts as an umbrella organisation for community and voluntary groups in the Muff area. 

The organisation has been granted permission to add 20 extra parking spaces to the existing car park—doubling its current capacity—and to construct a new multi-use activity building linked to existing services on the site.

The Co-op currently employs two full-time and five part-time staff, including a manager, to deliver the Muff and District Community Services Programme (CSP). 

Funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development through Pobal, the CSP programme manages St Mary’s Community Hall and Resource Centre, Muff Community Park, and provides caretaking and administrative support to Quigley’s Point Community Centre. MCD also plays a key role in sourcing, managing, and administering funding for civic improvements and community-led projects in the wider area.

Muff Community Park is already home to a Welcome Point and Coffee Dock, a Visitor Information Point, multi-games area, a cabin for small local businesses, toilet block, playground, grassed, drained open parkland, and a covered, ventilated event space. 

A wheelchair-accessible swing was added recently, enhancing the park’s inclusive facilities. The park attracts an average of 350 users per week, rising sharply to as many as 1,000 visitors per day during the summer months.

In its application, MCD said: “The project will facilitate the continued operation and development of a valuable community asset which not only delivers employment, services and activities to the local community but attracts users from across Inishowen and further afield.”

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Under the council’s decision, the proposed multi-use activity building must be used solely for purposes ancillary to the enjoyment of the existing community facilities. Any business, residential, or alternative use will require a separate planning application.

In addition, conditions relating to surface water management were imposed in the interest of public health and flood prevention. No surface water from the site may discharge onto the public road, and MCD must also ensure that water from the public road does not flow into the site. Surface water is also prohibited from entering the public foul sewer network.