Greystones harbour plans on display

The environmental impact of a proposed €300 million redevelopment of Greystones harbour is to be the subject of a public information display in the Co Wicklow town today.

Wicklow County Council and its private-sector partner, the Sispar consortium, are seeking to build 375 apartments, a 230-berth marina and 6,400sq m of commercial - mainly marine-related units - a boardwalk and a 15-acre park around the harbour, which dates from 1886.

Also included in the plan is a substantial rebuilding and expansion of the current harbour, the relocation of existing users such as sailing and angling clubs and the creation of a new "north cove" beach.

The council, which is to provide the land for the redevelopment, has already begun compulsory purchase proceedings on 79 acres including 35 acres of foreshore.

Sispar has commissioned town planners MacCabe Durney to draw up a draft impact assessment, which will be available at today's display alongside computer-generated images of the development. Representatives of the developers will also answer questions on the project.

According to the council, the project is necessary to provide coastal defences in an area north of the harbour, where the soft mud is being eroded at a rate of more than one metre a year. The 120-year-old granite harbour itself is also in decay.

Under the public-private partnership between the council and Sispar, Sispar will own the apartment and commercial element of the development and will manage the marina for 25 years before it reverts to the county council.

The apartments are to rise to four storeys above water level, and will be stepped down to two storeys travelling west of a spine road. In this way the highest apartments will look out across water while the "stepping effect" is designed to minimise the impact of the apartments when viewed from the west.

Two roads would serve the development - an existing entrance which currently serves the local sailing club, a former landfill and sports grounds known as Darcy's field, and a new road which would effectively be an extension of the town's Trafalgar Road.

However, the proposed development has already drawn criticism from some local residents including the recently formed Harbour Residents' Association and others who feel the scale of the development - particularly the apartments - is too large.

Meanwhile, former Labour Party town councillor Fiachra Etchingham claimed that 90 per cent of locals who turned out for previous public meetings on the redevelopment were opposed to the scheme.

He said the project, in trying to address coastal erosion and decay in a "nice pleasant coastal harbour which needs to be a bit more user-friendly", was completely out of scale. He also said the traffic volumes during construction and when finished would create havoc in the town.