An Bord Pleanala has overruled Wicklow County Council's decision to grant planning permission for a giant business park west of the N11 intersection at Fassaroe in Bray. The £130 million (165m) scheme, planned for a site of 193 acres, was also to have included a 158-bedroom hotel and a conference centre. Although the land has been zoned for commercial use, the board ruled that the project would infringe on the green belt between Bray and Enniskerry and would be contrary to the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area. It also held that the additional traffic generated by the development would reduce the effectiveness of public investment on this national primary route. The decision will come as a major disappointment to the promoters, Borg Developments, a subsidiary of the Cosgrave Group, which has spent three years planning the project in consultation with Wicklow County Council.
The group will be taking professional advice on the options now open to it, given the board's apparent unwillingness to go along with the principle of a development on the site. According to one planning expert, the group would not be entitled to compensation because it acquired the land before it was zoned. Members of Wicklow County Council voted in favour of a material contravention of the county development plan to facilitate the Fassaroe development. Planning permission for the scheme was granted last July and this was subsequently appealed by William B Somerville-Large of Vallombrosa, Thornhill Road, Bray, and others.
Borg had planned to develop 28 high-tech office blocks with a total of 1.8 million sq ft, 14 industrial units with over 350,000 sq ft, a hotel and conference centre with more than 160,000 sq ft and a 29,000 sq ft leisure and gym facility. The board's decision to cite the inadequacy of the road network to cater for such a development would make it difficult for Borg to seek compensation under the 1990 Local Government Planning and Development Act, according to an official source.
Borg had apparently agreed with the council to spend an estimated £12 million (15.2m) on road improvements, including the provision of a new roundabout and slip roads at the Fassaroe interchange, the widening of the existing road bridge over the N11 and the building of a new access road to the site.
However, the board said it was not satisfied that the improvements at the junction of the N11/M11 would ensure traffic generated by the proposed development would not interfere with the safety and free flow of traffic on the national primary route.
The board also noted that the separation of the site from the built-up area of Bray, the dependence on the car as the predominant mode of transport and the lack of public transport meant the scheme was contrary to the principles of sustainable development.
It also said that because the site was designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, the project would be in conflict with the objectives to preserve the scenic landscape.
The board pointed out that having regard to the scale of the scheme and its proximity to Enniskerry - together with a link road through the site to that town as part of overall road improvements - the development would lead "to a coalescence of the built-up areas of Bray and Enniskerry and consequent loss of the village character and identity of Enniskerry".
