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[Press Release: December 14th, 2005] De Burca questions Minister Roche's commitment to Bray Recycling CentreFollowing last Tuesday's meeting of Bray Town Council at which a majority of councillors voted to grant planning permission for a Bray Recycling Centre at the Ecolabs site on the Boghall Rd, the Council's Chairperson, Cllr Deirdre de Burca, has questioned Minister Dick Roche's commitment to a recycling centre for the town."Minister Dick Roche got a lot of publicity several months ago for the extra 1 million euro he announced for the recycling centre in Bray" says de Burca. "However, he has never put the offer in writing to Wicklow County Council and they have not received a cent from him yet. This means that although Bray Town Council has succeeded in granting planning permission for a recycling centre in the town before the Christmas holidays, we will not be able to open the centre to cope with the Christmas waste produced because Minister Roche has not actually given us the money to do so". Cllr de Burca says that she was shocked to see Cllr David Grant (FF) fail to support the vote on the recycling centre at last Tuesday's council meeting. "Cllr Grant proposed that we defer any vote on a recycling centre and that the council should once again begin seeking a new site for a recycling centre in the town" says de Burca. "Cllr Grant knew that this meant we would spend another two years looking for a suitable site. I am astonished because he is employed by the Department of the Environment and works closely with Minister Roche. If Cllr Grant was opposed to granting planning permission for the recycling centre on the Boghall Rd, does this mean that Minister Roche was also opposed to it"? Cllr de Burca says that Minister Roche has a reputation for speaking "out of both sides of his mouth" on many issues and questions whether he is really committed to supporting a recycling centre for Bray. She has called on him to clarify whether he supports the site for a recycling centre on the Boghall Rd which received planning permission from Bray Town Councillors last Tuesday. She has also called on him to write to Wicklow County Council guaranteeing that the funding he has promised for the recycling centre will immediately be provided by his department. "Minister Roche's behaviour, and the behaviour of his close associate, Cllr David Grant, in relation to the new recycling centre for Bray have raised serious doubts about their support for a Bray recycling centre" says de Burca. "I am now calling on the Minister for the Environment to clarify his position and to reassure the people of Bray that the centre will have his full political and financial backing".
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