Green councillor appeals golf course at Glen of the Downs!

"I am very disturbed at the decision made by Wicklow County Council regarding this planning application" says councillor de Burca. "The Glen of the Downs is a native oak woodland and is therefore extremely important nationally in terms of landscape, ecology and amenity. It is for this reason that the Glen is a proposed "Natural Heritage Area" and a "Special Area of Conservation" under the EU Habitats Directive. We have already seen how part of this nature reserve was interfered with for the purpose of road-widening" she says. "We now see a golf course being planned next to the nature reserve where a buffer zone should be ".

Councillor de Burca has pointed out that there are already two other golf courses in the immediate vicinity of the proposed golf course - Delgany golf club and Bellevue golf club - and that the Charlesland and Greystones golf clubs are within a mile or two of the area. "What is happening, in effect, is that Wicklow County Council is introducing a new landscape policy by stealth" she says. "This is a very cynical approach to maintaining a Green Belt as under planning law a golf course is a clearly recognised form of development".

Councillor de Burca points out that a golf course typically involves the construction of a clubhouse, ancillary buildings and extensive car-parking facilities ."While golf courses are important recreational amenities in the county and while they promote our tourism profile, we must be careful not to locate them in areas that have been designated environmentally sensitive or as containing unique habitats" she says.

Councillor de Burca has also criticized Wicklow County Council's failure to insist that a proper Environmental Impact Statement be provided before they granted planning permission for this golf course.

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