Madam, - I would like to point out the misinformation in Michael Cawley's letter "Chinese award for Greystones" (November 29th). The Chinese hosts had no "hand act or part" in awarding Greystones the Gold Award (populations under 20,000) for the most liveable town in the world. In fairness to the Chinese people and the smear cast on them by Mr Cawley, they didn't even have a representative among the panel of nine judges!
Secondly, no one travelled out just to receive any award as again Mr Cawley displays a total lack of understanding of the competition procedure and background.
LivCom was launched in 1997 as the world's only awards competition (Green Oscars For Towns/Cities) focusing on best practice regarding the management of the local environment. It is run by a UK-registered charity and is endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme. The finals took place this year between November 6th to November 10th in Dongguan (last year London, next year the Czech Republic) where a 40-minute presentation was made by the three representatives from Greystones, followed by a five-minute DVD kindly sponsored by the Greystones and District Chamber of Commerce, followed by 20 minutes of questions by the judges.
The international judging panel consisted of a Canadian horticulturist, a leading member of the parks industry in New Zealand, a Japanese professor and president of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architects, a member of the Estonian environment department, an expert in leisure and culture from the UK, the list goes on, One issue that we all agree on is Greystones is a "wonderful place to live" and I certainly was delighted and honoured to accept this award on behalf of the whole community.
I don't intend to rerun the debate on the harbour renewal scheme other than to say full planning procedures were adhered to in all circumstances, including two very detailed Bord Pleanála public hearings and in the general election of 2007 candidates supporting the harbour renewal received far more votes than those opposed to it.
In short, as a native Greystonian and local councillor, I am proud of the way the town can walk tall among the towns and cities of the world and indeed from the local reaction to the news of the win, the many clubs/organisations and individuals working for the town are also delighted. -Yours, etc,
GEORGE A JONES, MCC, TC,
Mayor of Greystones,
La Touche Close,
Greystones.