Councillors criticised on plan for industrial estate near manor house

Wicklow county councillors have been criticised for their decision to rezone a 77-acre site for an industrial estate at the entrance to Mount Kennedy House in Kilpedder, south-west of Grey stones.

The site, which occupies a position between the main gate of Mount Kennedy demesne and Kilpedder, was proposed for industrial use by the Fianna Fail TD for Wicklow, Mr Dick Roche, and incorporated into the new Wicklow Development Plan as industrial land last Monday.

The rezoning came about despite objections from council planners and some councillors over access to the N11, which it adjoins, and the absence of mains sewerage. Councillors also criticised the fact that the proposal to rezone the land was not contained in earlier drafts of the development plan, which went on public display for three months. It was, however, inserted at the amendment stage and received one month's public display.

Mount Kennedy House is the estate house which gives the village of Newtownmountkennedy its name. The estate was purchased by Sir Richard Kennedy, who was knighted and given a grant of the manor by Charles II. The present house was built around 1784. It was designed by a Dr Wyatt and is famed for its elegant west facade.

A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Lewis Samuel, published in London in 1837, records Mount Kennedy demesne as "one of the most beautiful and romantic places in the county", on a par with the Glen of the Downs, Bellvue and the Devil's Glen.

It reports that Mount Kennedy was purchased from the Kennedys by "the late General Cunningham, who was raised to the peerage by the title Baron Rossmore and who expended upwards of £60,000 in plantations and improvements". In 1798 Newtownmountkennedy was the site of a skirmish between insurgents and the king's forces.

It is now owned by a businessman, Mr Cecil Quinn. He made a submission to the county council in favour of the industrial development.

Proposing the rezoning, Mr Roche said he was anxious to create industrial estates along the N11 corridor to allow for job-creation, thus having a population which lived and worked in Wicklow. Mr Roche said he was concerned that the north county area would become a dormitory area for Dublin, and development without employment locally was not sustainable.

Mr Roche said that the development had been mooted first by the county council and that zoning the land for an industrial option did not automatically mean that anybody would grant planning permission until the necessary infrastructure was in place. He added that the area had a much better chance of getting infra structural improvements financed by the Department of the Environment if it had an industrial potential.

However, a Fine Gael councillor, Mr George Jones, criticised the plan, describing it as "premature".

"With road access - and it is council policy to strictly restrict access directly on to the N11 as well as closing dangerous median crossings - and sewerage, this makes no sense. Inserting it in the plan at the amendment stage is flying in the face of democracy", he said, arguing that most people were still unaware of the rezoning.

"There isn't even a firm proposal on the cards. No developer has been identified and no interest has been established. This just creates a false impression that because you zone land there are going to be jobs. A lot of Kilpedder is still on temporary sewerage facilities and has been for 15 years."

The zoning simply facilitated land-owners and their consultants, Mr Jones added.