38 Hectares For Housing In New Local Area Plan

Life’s a South Beach…

eplacing the mildly out-of-date Local Area Plan 2013-2019, councillors have this week voted in a new planning framework for Greystones, Delgany and Kilcoole.

At a recent sitting at Wicklow County Council, amendments to parts of the County Development Plan were ironed out.

Those changes include rezoning 38 hectares of land for new residential development in two phases, the new housing delivery targets now higher in the updated guidelines. WCC claims there is more than enough zoned land to meet those new targets.

The current County Development Plan for this area aimed for 1,953 units from 2016 to 2013, with CSO figures revealing that this target has been exceeded by around 10% already, with 2,143 units built by the end of 2024.

There are also plans to strengthen river bank protection in Coolagad with a central green area along the watercourse, land east and south of the Charlesland dual carriageway being designated as Active Open Space.

Bellevue Hill is also being addressed in the new plan, with a publicly accessible looped trail in the works following environmental concerns.

Among other recommendations, there was also a call for a local transport plan focused on sustainable travel as well as defending Kilcoole’s designation as Level 4 Self-Sustaining Town.

The new Local Area Plan was verified by the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly and follows months of reviewing public submission as well as assessing national, regional and local planning policies.

Issued in December, there were 86 submissions in the second chief executive’s report regarding material alterations.

Said Cathaoirleach Lourda Scott, “We went through every submission carefully, often several times, discussing and refining ideas.

“While we did not always agree on every point, we maintained a respectful and constructive dialogue throughout.”