Greystones 80-acre site to be rezoned

Wicklow county councillors yesterday voted to rezone an 80-acre site on the outskirts of Greystones for the construction of a large shopping centre, housing and community facilities.

Adopting the Greystones and Delgany local area plan, councillors amended the 80-acre employment zoning at Charlesland in return for a legal agreement from high-profile property developers Seán Dunne and Seán Mulryan that they would provide a range of community facilities.

The agreement stipulates that the developers offer the Department of Education a five-acre site for a primary school at school site prices; offer another site to the Department of Justice for a new Garda station; provide a recycling centre and develop an 8,000sq m enterprise centre, some 2,800sq m of which would be given free to the local community. The developers also agreed to provide €3 million towards the development of a community centre.

In return, the developers, who are developing about 1,400 new homes and commercial facilities on neighbouring land, would get their site rezoned to allow for an additional 210 houses and a "district level" shopping centre of 20,000sq m.

The deal was strongly supported by a majority of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors, including the mayor of Greystones, Derek Mitchell (FG).

Mr Mitchell said the changes would allow the children of Charlesland to walk to school. He added that the new enterprise centre was needed to provide space for small industries that were being forced from spare rooms and garages in houses because of planning enforcement.

On the shopping centre, Mr Mitchell said: "We need to be able to buy clothes, children's things, washing machines etc in Greystones."

Greystones was also now one of the few large towns in Wicklow without a recycling centre.

Mr Mitchell said the town had grown rapidly in the last six years and facilities were needed.

The deal was approved by 17 votes to four. One of those opposed to the deal, Cllr Deirdre de Burca, said a number of elements of the plan disturbed her. The rezoning had only been first mentioned on September 4th last, she said, giving locals very little time to study the implications. Those who had studied the plan were opposed to the deal, maintaining that Charlesland already had enough new homes, she added.