[Press Release: Summer, 2001]

"Sustainable development must be priority of Greater Dublin Authority" say Greens!


The Wicklow Greens have called on the Greater Dublin Authority to ensure that sustainable development is prioritised once this body is established. The Green Party made its comments following an Bord Pleanala's recent refusal of a very large planning application by the Cosgrave Brothers at Fassaroe, Bray and media reports of a proposed large scale residential development at Ballyman, which aims to provide housing for approximately 10,000 people.

"The Greater Dublin Authority will apparently be given responsibility for land- use planning and transportation across Counties Dublin,Wicklow, Meath and Kildare" says Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca." Many councillors have complained that this new body will be a quango which will take planning powers away from democratically elected local representatives" says councillor de Burca. "However, it could be argued that councillors have only themselves to blame".

According to councillor de Burca, the Department of the Environment has written to both Wicklow and Meath County Council over the past few months to point out that the development plans being drawn up by these local authorities did not appear to be in accordance with the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area.

"Furthermore, there appears to be little or no co-ordination between the various local authorities within the Greater Dublin Area" says councillor de Burca. "The Cosgrave Property Group's proposal to develop a town to house 10,000 people just west of the Bray Town limits, and approximately 2km from Enniskerry village, is a perfect example of this lack of co-ordination" she adds.

Councillor de Burca reports that at a public meeting which she recently attended in Enniskerry, local people raised the issue of the proposed Ballyman development and asked the Wicklow county councillors present to intervene with Dunlaoghaire Rathdown County Council in order to try to ensure that this development did not proceed.

"Most of the councillors present responded by saying that they could not interfere with the planning decisions of another local authority" says councillor de Burca. "It is precisely this lack of co-ordination between neighbouring local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area that has led the government to propose establishing a Greater Dublin Authority".

Councillor de Burca has pointed out that sustainable development cannot be achieved in the Greater Dublin Area while neighbouring local authorities act in isolation from one another. She has also argued that, in the interest of sustainable development, Dublin cannot continue to sprawl outwards into neighbouring counties like Wicklow. She points to the large amount of zoned residential land in Dublin which remains undeveloped and insists that this, and other related issues, must be addressed as a matter of urgency by the Greater Dublin Authority once it is established.

For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org.