Greystones developers failed to address traffic issues, hearing told

The consortium proposing to redevelop Greystones harbour has failed to address issues relating to scale and traffic which were raised by An Bord Pleanála, it was alleged at a reopened oral hearing in Co Wicklow yesterday.

Labour councillor Tom Fortune said An Bord Pleanála had asked the developers - a consortium involving Wicklow County Council - to reduce the scale of the housing; to indicate how traffic volumes could be lowered; to remove an old dump on part of the site and to examine the possibility of bringing material to the site by sea.

While the Sispar consortium had modified the plans and had presented a range of experts this week to argue that its methodology represented best environmental practice, Mr Fortune claimed the project had not changed to any significant detail.

Changes to Sispar's plans included reducing new homes from 375 to 341, mainly by eliminating an apartment block where the development meets the old harbour, creating a large open public space. The consortium also changed the position of a number of buildings allocated to existing harbour uses.

Mr Fortune argued that the reduction of apartments was minimal and would have an insufficient effect on traffic volumes. He said proposals to relocate part of the former dump within the overall site were unsatisfactory, while the issue of bringing material to the site had been rejected.

Green Party councillor Deirdre de Burca described the development as "bad planning", while Evelyn Cawley of the Greystones Protection and Development Association said the road network was inadequate.

Eoin Reynolds of Boreham Consultants said changes to the development would result in a reduction of 10 per cent in daily traffic volumes, which was insignificant.

Fine Gael councillor Derek Mitchell said that the changes had "made for an excellent scheme". The open space would become "the best public square in Ireland, larger than Smithfield, overlooking the best community harbour on the island".

He said that despite an orchestrated campaign against the development, just 10 per cent of the local population had objected.