GREENS CLAIM NEW TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR BRAY IS CLOAKED IN SECRECY

Councillor de Burca reports that she contacted Bray Town Clerk, Catherine Halligan, over a week ago to establish what had happened to the controversial Bray Traffic Plan which was presented to Bray residents at public consultation meetings last summer. The Green Party councillor says she was told by the Town Clerk that a particular sub-committee including Cllr John Mc Manus and Cllr Pat Vance had been discussing the Plan over the past months, and that an amended version would be presented to Bray Town Council at a meeting in early March.

"Essentially I was told that I could get no information on the Traffic Plan until the new version had been put before the councillors on Bray Town Council to be adopted or rejected" says councillor de Burca. "I am concerned about the Traffic Plan I saw last summer as I believe it would cause chaos in the town if it was implemented as proposed. I do not want to see a vote on this Plan rushed through Bray Town Council without proper public debate" she says.Councillor de Burca claims that she finds it difficult to understand why as a councillor representing the Bray area, she is not entitled to be updated on the new traffic management proposals being considered by Bray Town Council.

"I suppose I have been quite vocal about my concerns in relation to this new Traffic Plan" she says. "I would have serious questions about who will benefit from the proposed changes contained within the Plan. It seems to me that the two main beneficiaries of the new Traffic arrangements proposed within the Plan will be Ballymore Homes who intend developing the Florentine Centre, and Newlyn Developments who are building the new Civic Centre complex off the Main Street. Both of these new developments will generate a lot of extra traffic and the new Traffic Plan for the town will clearly facilitate this extra traffic" she says.

However, councillor de Burca claims that these multi-million pound developments may be facilitated at the expense of the residents of Bray. "The Traffic Plan that was displayed during the summer proposed that most of the traffic entering the Main Street from Castle Street will be pushed down onto Seapoint Road and into residential areas like Galtrim Park" she says. "Up to 15,000 cars a day could be expected to use Seapoint Road which is an inadequate and narrow road for that volume of traffic and will place huge pressure on the Seafront " she says.

Councillor de Burca is encouraging residents of Bray to contact their local representatives on Bray Town Council to lobby them about the proposed Traffic Management Plan before the council's meeting in March. "People must let their representatives know what they think about this Plan" she says."When implemented this Plan will have very serious, long-term consequences for the town. Let's make sure the changes that are being proposed are in the interests of the people of Bray".

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