Greystones harbour hearing begins

A public hearing into the controversial proposed €300 million Greystones harbour development gets under way in Bray tomorrow.

The oral hearing will deal with the 6,000-plus objections received in relation to the plan for the Wicklow village, which includes 375 new homes, some in four-storey blocks.

A number of State agencies, including the Department of the Marine, the Dublin Transportation Office, the Department of the Environment and Fáilte Ireland are among those who have made submissions to An Bord Pleanála against the development.

A rival harbour developer, Treacy Enterprises, has also objected.

In its submission, Fáilte Ireland expresses concern at the location, scale and mass of the proposed housing development, which it says would completely screen the existing town when viewed from the sea and from the north beach.

It also says that the plans constitute "over-development" of the site.

The Department of the Marine, in its submission, says that the scheme for Greystones harbour appears to offer "minimalist" coastal protection and would be "close to a do-nothing scenario".

In a strongly-worded criticism of the plan, the department says that the environmental impact statement was self-contradictory, particularly on the crucial question of how "ongoing coastal erosion processes are not made worse" by the development.

While Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, who is a Fianna Fáil TD for the Wicklow constituency, has said that it would be inappropriate for him to comment publicly on the issue, his department, in its submission, expresses concern about the architectural heritage of the area and the "mediation" between the new and existing buildings.

The submission says that the current setting would be "entirely altered". It criticises the environmental impact statement, saying it had "not fully analysed" the character of the village. "The department seeks to ensure that the development on the immediate harbour area would not dominate or detract from the historic character of the Victorian village."

The Dublin Transportation Office has raised concerns about Victoria Road, along which construction traffic would travel. "As this will be one of the main routes for pedestrians, cyclists, heavy goods vehicles, buses and cars . . . the current road width . . . does not appear to be adequate for the increased volume of traffic and in providing a safe environment for vulnerable road-users," it says.

The Dublin Transportation Office also says that the development does not appear to take into account the "rapid increase" in the local population up to 2016.

Wicklow County Council has argued that the large-scale housing element is needed to finance the redevelopment of the Victorian harbour and to protect against coastal erosion.

The Wicklow county manager, Eddie Sheehy, has said he believes the development represents "world-class facilities". He says that, in five years, Greystones will have a harbour facility which is the "envy of the country".

The council is proceeding with compulsory purchase of land around the harbour for the development, which will be carried out by its private-sector partners, property developers Park Developments and civil engineers John Sisk, operating as the Sispar consortium.