AFTER disagreement about the draft plan for Blessington, Wicklow County Council has agreed to defer further consideration of it until September.
This move was agreed by 16 votes to five at last night's council meeting in order to enable community groups and various organisations to have another look at the amended plan and ,reach a compromise.
The acting county manager, Mr Eddie Breen, said the council would organise the first public meeting during this period to discuss the plan with interested parties.
Controversy centres on amendments regarding the possibility of acres of amenity land being rezoned for quarrying by the Roadstone construction company.
At the meeting, the chairman, Mr Tom Cullen (Lab), said that, from files he was permitted to see after his High Court action against the council, he formed the opinion there had been a secret agreement between the council and Roadstone over the rezoning of the Glending Woods area of Blessington.
He said the secret deal between council officials and Roadstone was made as far back as 1994. He wanted to know how the agreement could have been reached before the council approved the matter.
Mr Breen, in reply, said the council took court action against, Roadstone over unauthorised quarrying and after protracted, negotiations they reached an understanding to suspend the High Court hearing. The understanding was that Roadstone would cease its unauthorised quarrying in Glending Woods and would apply for planning permission.
He said that was a perfectly acceptable procedure, used by most local councils to achieve compromise rather than conflict, and it was acceptable to the courts.
"There was no secret deal, there was nothing unusual about this procedure and there were no favourites", Mr Breen said.
Mr Cullen told reporters later it had been confirmed to him that the Department for the Environment has sought a report on the entire amended Blessington draft development plan.
He also said he was standing over his belief that the 147 acres of land sold to Roadstone by the State for £1.5 million was grossly undervalued.