Wicklow Greens oppose rezoning of educational land at Greystones!

Wicklow County Council has argued that this land is needed for the purpose of building ten new houses as part of their social housing programme. They insist that only a small portion of the educational land has been rezoned and that the remaining land will be sufficient to allow for a school to be developed.

"While I am very much in favour of the council developing as much social housing as possible in order to reduce the long waiting lists we have for housing in the county" says Green councillor, Deirdre de Burca, "I cannot accept that this must be at the cost of our children and the educational provision which has been made for them".

Councillor de Burca points out that the population of Greystones is likely to grow by approximately five thousand people over the next five to ten years. She argues that Greystones must make adequate provision for the education of the children of the town, and does not agree that valuable educational land should be sacrificed in order to provide ten social houses.

"The provision of housing is a top political priority at the moment" says councillor de Burca. "I can understand that my colleagues on the council wish to do all they can to shorten the worryingly long waiting lists in the area. However we should not be trading precious educational land in order to provide land for housing. The proper education of our children is one of the most important responsibilities we have as a society. We should not be providing educational facilities which are less than adequate in terms of classroom size, recreational space or sporting facilities. This is simply not acceptable" she says.

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