Facilities needed in area
Green Party Councillor Lourda Scott called for the suspension of standing orders at this month’s Municipal District Meeting to raise community concerns over shortfalls regarding school places, infrastructure and community facilities. This is compounded by the recent planning permission granted to the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) in Delgany and concerns over the effect of future large scale developments.
Speaking on the issue Cllr Scott said: “Greystones District has seen huge growth over the past number of years. While provision of houses is very welcome and needed, it is recognised locally that growth has quickly surpassed the infrastructure of the area. Nowhere is this more evident that in the area of education where recently up to 190 children were reported as being without a school place in First Year this September. The rapid development has continued without concurrent upgrading of cycle/ pedestrian paths or improvements to public transport. In addition the development of community facilities for teens is non existent and every parent has experienced the long waits to join local sports clubs. We have some facilities being promised by Developers, such as the crèche and community building in Glenheron, but even after I pushed hard on this over the last 18 mts, these still haven’t been delivered. Looking at the basic maintenance of the area, the District is badly served and services haven’t grown with the population. We are desperately in need of more outdoor staff and currently there is just one person emptying bins across the entire area, which isn’t sustainable long term. Despite this lived experience on the ground, it was very disappointing to read that An Bord Pleanala granted permission to the Delgany SHD based on “the availability in the area of a wide range of educational, social, community and transport infrastructure.
At this month’s MD meeting I called for a meeting with Senior Officials in Wicklow County Council to discuss how we can assess these shortfalls at a local level and put plans in place to address them. It is important that elected local representatives, working on behalf of the community and the Council are on the same page. I am delighted that the District Manager agreed to convene a meeting and has committed to commission an audit of social infrastructure. I hope that by working together for an outcome we can achieve quick results on the issues within the Council’s authority.”