New town planned for site near Bray

Planning & Development:  Proposals to develop a new town on the outskirts of Bray, capitalising on the proposed Luas extension and proximity to the M11/M50 motorway, in Co Wicklow are being drafted by Wicklow County Council.

According to regional planning guidelines, the combined population of the existing town of Bray and a new town based to the west at Fassaroe could have a population of up to 100,000 people by 2020.

However, consultants who recently held a public consultation period on the plan and briefed members of Bray Town Council on the issues raised, have been asked to plan for a more modest level of growth.

According to Tiros consultants, which have been hired by the county council to prepared the plan, Fassaroe is one of the few remaining areas around Bray where development can reasonably be expected to take place. Tiros also considered Kilruddery, east of Kilmacanogue, the Dargle area and Kilcroney before concluding Fassaroe was the most suitable location for a new town.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the available land is in the county council area but would be effectively part of Bray town which has its own town council.

At a consultants briefing for town councillors recently some members called for an extension of the town boundary to encompass new development areas.

Making the case for Fassaroe as the most suitable for development, Tiros told the councillors that the new development would be self-sufficient having its own town centre and mix of shops, offices, housing and schools.

Responding to councillors' concerns that land be set aside for a new combined Bray and Greystones Fire Service, the consultants said such a move wouldn't be ruled out.

The proposals come at a time when most commentators agree Bray needs some rejuvenation.

For more than a decade a major site in the centre of town, fronting onto Main Street and owned by Ballymore properties, has remained undeveloped.

The town is also considering the latest proposals from the Pizarro consortium to develop a €2 billion town centre on the former golf club lands, which may also be served by Luas.

County council officials, however, said they will move ahead with the Fassaroe plan which is part of a statutory process to formulate the Bray Environs Local Area Plan.

It is expected to be adopted after a manager's report and further public consultation by July of this year.

A spokeswoman for Wicklow County Council said that, while some studies had envisaged large scale population increases, what was preferred by Wicklow County Council was more modest with an increase in the current population of Bray, which is almost 30,000, to about 35,000 over the next eight years.