Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca claims that the people of West Wicklow are not being given acceptable access to the planning files of Wicklow County Council.

Councillor de Burca made these comments following a complaint by a number of her constituents in West Wicklow who attempted to see copies of a proposed Material Contravention to the current Dunlavin Local Development Plan, recently advertised in the national media by Wicklow County Council.

“When my constituents rang Wicklow County Council to ask if they could view copies of the planning files for this proposed Material Contravention, they were told that they would have to drive over to the County Buildings in Wicklow Town rather than being able to view the files in the council’s Area Office in Blessington” says de Burca. “This is absolutely ridiculous when you consider the distance that people have to drive over the Wicklow Mountains, and the fixed opening hours of the council’s planning section”.

Cllr de Burca says that Wicklow County Council should make copies of any proposed Material Contravention of Local Development Plans relating to West Wicklow available to the Area Office in Blessington so that the residents of West Wicklow could view them without having to travel all of the way to the County Buildings in Wicklow Town. “If the council refuse to do this, they are seriously disadvantaging the people of West Wicklow and making it very difficult for them to participate in the planning process in this county” she says.