"Population figures in new plans are flawed" say Greens!

"This is deeply worrying for anyone who is concerned about the future development of Wicklow" says Green Party councillor Deirdre de Burca. According to councillor de Burca the problem in Wicklow appears to be a reluctance on the part of the council to abandon the Growth Settlement Strategy (1995) on which the current County Development Plan is based. This strategy attempted to spread residential and industrial development into various primary and secondary growth centres around the county.

Councillor de Burca points out that since the introduction of the Planning and Development Act 2000, Wicklow County Council is obliged by law to observe the Strategic Planning Guidelines (SPGs) for the Greater Dublin Area. The SPGs divide the Greater Dublin Area into the "Metropolitan Area" and the "Hinterland Area" and seek to concentrate all development in Wicklow into Bray and Greystones (Metropolitan Area), and Wicklow Town and Arklow (Hinterland). The SPGs specify that development planned for other small villages and towns in the county should be for "local growth" only.

Councillor de Burca argues that while the council is currently implementing certain aspects of the SPGs (ie higher residential densities in Bray and Greystones), a number of its recent draft development plans appear to be based on the original strategy of developing a range of primary and secondary growth centres around the county, in conflict with the SPGs. For example, Councillor de Burca points to the draft development plans for Kilcoole and Newtown which she strongly opposed earlier this year, as she claimed they were in breach of the SPGs. The Department of the Environment shared her view and its intervention ensured that the levels of rezoning within these plans were reduced by the council.

Councillor de Burca is calling on the council to revisit the projected populations figures for Wicklow for 2016 and to ensure that these figures are corrected. "I am not alone in my concerns about these figures"she adds. "Various submissions concerning the inaccuracies in population figures have been made to the council's planners by bodies like an Taisce and the Wicklow Planning Alliance". Councillor de Burca claims that the council has a responsibility to ensure that the correct population figures are guiding the drafting of new development plans in the county. "If the council continues to work with flawed population figures" she says " the residents of County Wicklow in 2016 will experience serious traffic congestion, regular power cuts, inadequate sewerage facilities and lack of schools for their children to attend".

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