Opposition to Bray coastal protection plan

A public meeting will be held in Bray, Co Wicklow tonight, to renew opposition to a £3.5 million coastal protection scheme for Bray seafront.

The scheme, which was initially drawn up by the Department of the Marine over two years ago, involves the extraction of 250,000 tonnes of shingle from the Codling Bank to replace the eroded Bray beach, and is scheduled to get under way this August.

Bray Urban District Council has expressed fears that the seafront promenade may collapse if the scheme does not get under way as a matter of urgency.

However, members of Bray Beachwatch have consistently argued that the scheme put forward by the Department of the Marine in association with the council, would deprive them of the beach amenity over a wide area between the harbour wall and the National Aquarium.

The Beachwatch committee also commissioned an alternative plan from consultants Kirk McClure Morton which was rejected by Bray Urban District Council.

Following this, the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, asked engineers in his department to consider six alternative plans, which were assessed by British company H.R. Wallingford.

Mr Pat Darcy, spokesman for Bray Beachwatch, acknowledged yesterday that "the Wallingford report favoured the original Department of the Marine plan", but he insisted that the report also contained a warning that should the shingle be comprised of small stones, it could be washed away.

A copy of the report, seen by The Irish Times, also endorses the Beachwatch view that the gradient of the shingle used should be 1:15, as opposed to the 1:7 in the original plan.

"Either way the scheme, if it goes ahead, represents the loss of our beach which is used for skiff races and fishing amongst other things," commented Mr Darcy.

He also argued that it would be possible to dredge up the original sand which was eroded from the promenade, which he claimed was lying in a bank offshore, and reinstate it with the aid of a breakwater to keep it in place.

"It may last 10 to 20 years but what is wrong with doing it again?" he asked.

Referring to the urgency of the scheme, Mr Darcy said it was unlikely that work could get under way this autumn, as contracts had not yet been signed.

Opposition to the Department's scheme has also come from representatives of the Howth fishing industry who claim that the Codling Bank, located 15 kilometres off the east coast, is an important nursery ground for fish stocks.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Marine said a press officer would respond with the Department's position on the issue. The public meeting will take place in the Royal Hotel, Bray, starting at 8 p.m.