Green Party councillors have questioned why the 20,000 euros that were allocated by Wicklow County Council in its 2006 budget for enhancement works on the Southern Cross Road have not been spent. Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca, closely questioned council officials at a recent meeting of the Bray councillors on Wicklow County Council.

“I was astonished to hear that of the 20,000 euros allocated for the improvement of the Southern Cross Road, only approximately 6,000 euros have been spent” says de Burca. “We are all aware that the Southern Cross Road is one of the most neglected roads in the town, and much of the road falls within Wicklow County Council’s jurisdiction. Although it is an important entry road to Bray, it looks unkempt, overgrown and badly maintained. As a Bray councillor I have raised this issue with officials on many occasions, but to no avail. Now local councillors have discovered that the money we allocated for the improvement of the road in 2006 has not been spent. This is quite hard to understand”.

De Burca says that Wicklow County Council is hosting a special seminar in the Stillorgan Park Hotel on December 1st to try to promote Wicklow as a good county in which business can locate. However, she points out that one of the first Business Parks in the county is located on the Southern Cross Road. “If prospective investors come to look at the Southern Cross Business Park, they wont be very impressed at the state of the Southern Cross Rd. It wont exactly inspire confidence in them that Wicklow is a good place to locate”.

Green Party councillor, and resident of the Southern Cross, Caroline Burrell says that landscaping on the Southern Cross road is long overdue. “I find it incredible that there is unspent money that could have gone towards improving the overall appearance of the Southern Cross Rd” she says. “I would urge Wicklow County Council to spend this money immediately and to make a further allocation for funding for the Southern Cross Rd in its 2007 budget”.