De Burca calls for Regional Park for North Wicklow in new County Development Plan

Councillor de Burca made this proposal at a recent meeting of Wicklow County Council, at which councillors gave directions to the County Manager regarding the content of the new Draft Development Plan.

"I believe that it is absolutely essential that a Regional Park is established in North Wicklow in the near future" says councillor de Burca. "We have seen the huge development pressures in the north of the county over the past few years. It is clear that Bray Head and the Little Sugarloaf are under imminent threat from development" she says.

Councillor de Burca claims that she is very disappointed that there was such a poor level of support from other councillors for the Regional Park proposal. "A number of councillors spoke out and claimed they were concerned about private property rights being impacted upon" she says. "I believe this shows a lack of imagination on the part of those councillors. I am suggesting that we put the objective of creating a park into the new Development Plan and them let's look at ways around the obstacles that currently exist. It has been done elsewhere and the public, and particularly children, have benefitted hugely from the creation of the amenity of Regional Parks. Unfortunately some of my colleagues seem purely interested in promoting more and more built development and have little obvious interest in creating amentities and facilities that are in the public interest".

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