Fresh effort by council to rezone Glen Ding lands

Wicklow County Council, whose rezoning of the historically and archaeologically important Glen Ding in west Wicklow was overturned by the High Court in 1998, has again proposed to rezone the lands.

The proposal contained in the current draft of the Blessington Town Plan would allow quarrying to take place at the site, which contains an archaeological complex including a ring fort and a number of national monuments. The site, in all about 140 acres, is owned by Cement Roadstone.

The council's previous rezoning of the land and subsequent granting of planning permission for quarrying on the wooded hillside - recognised as a fortified outpost for Mac Torcaill, the last Viking ruler of Dublin - provoked a number of High Court cases in the mid to late 1990s.

The first of these was a case taken against Roadstone's then quarrying operation in Glen Ding which led to an order of the High Court in 1994 that the company's activities were not exempt and it would require planning permission.

Wicklow County Council then sought to rezone the lands in a move which would allow quarrying but which was opposed by 1,415 submissions including one from the Blessington Heritage Trust. According to the trust just one submission was in favour.

Another High Court case was taken after the county council approved the rezoning in 1996. Before this case was decided, however, the council issued a "decision to grant" planning permission in 1997, to Roadstone for quarrying at Glen Ding. The planning permission was appealed to An Bord Pleanála and overturned. In 1998 the High Court also overturned the council's grant of planning permission.

In a separate development, the Comptroller and Auditor General criticised the method by which the Department of Energy sold the lands to Roadstone in 1991, without advertising for a public competition.

Mr Frank Corcoran, president of An Taisce, yesterday said the new proposal to rezone Glen Ding defied belief. He said the site was important as a hilltop defence commanding views out over the plains of Leinster and contained Bronze Age artefacts as well as the listed monuments. At the time of writing yesterday evening Wicklow County Council said the relevant official was not available.