WCC Drop The Ball On 139-Home Bray Project

Castle Street Bray

lans for a 139-home development on Castle Street in Bray has hit the buffers as the planning application gets the thumbs down from An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Which has led to criticism of Wicklow County Council by a local councillor, given that the reason ACP gave for the refusal was that the local authority’s development plan for the Bray district had lapsed.

Situated opposite SuperValu, where the old Heiton Buckley building providers were located before closing in 2011 (after over 100 years in the town), the first stage of the planning process was completed in early 2022. Proposals were submitted directly to ACP under the Strategic Housing Development process by Silverbow Limited, just before the SHD scheme was closed down.

According to a report in The Bray People today, the planning authority gave the project their tacit approval in January 2022, with their planning decision due that August, although the initial grant of permission didn’t appear until September 2025. There had only been two objections from the public.

The site was valued at €2.7m, with Silverbow reluctantly paying a 7% levy annually during the planning process, and now ACP have cited the fact that the Bray Local Area Plan 2018-2024 has expired, so permission was refused. They stated that the site does not now meet the legislative preconditions for the development.

The Castle Street development

Councillor Joe Behan asked chief executive Emer O’Gorman during January’s local authority meeting to explain these turn of events.  O’Gorman expressed her frustration, stating that, “LAPs do not expire. It was extended. It wasn’t formally extended by the this council.

“The legal opinion that we have gotten is that they do not expire. And other members of the board in other decisions in this county have accepted that and granted planning.”

The concern now being that other developments lodged may also fall foul of the ACP’s ruling on the Local Area Plan.

Down by the Dargle 1970s

The latest planning refusal comes after the Cosgrave Property Group got the thumbs down in July 2025 for 241 houses and 409 apartments on 78.5 hectares in Fassaroe, despite Wicklow County Council’s expressed support.

The new Local Area Plan for Bray is now a year and a half in the making, with WCC’s director of services Helena Denehy stating that their intention is to have the draft proposal ready early this year.