Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has expressed his concern at the actions of Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, who introduced a last-minute amendment to the already controversial planning bill which would prohibit local authorities or An Bord Pleanála from refusing to grant permission for a residential development on grounds that a government set housing target for the location where the planning permission was situated had already been met. Which was revealed to be based on a letter from the attorney general Rossa Fanning, which makes clear that the amendment is based on a single decision by Wicklow County Council regarding a planning application by Cairn for 98 units in Greystones.
Brady said:
“The Attorney General’s letter suggests that the wording of the amendment, based on the wording contained in the decision by Wicklow County Council, would not be appropriate for other Local Authorities and may need further amendments.
It has been revealed that Minister O’Brien’s political advisor met with representatives of Cairn construction following the decision of Wicklow County Council to refuse planning permission for the 98 houses because the area had exceeded its population target, and prior to the tabling of the Minister’s amendment.
Cairn also have an application for 580 houses with An Bord Pleanála, which is yet to be decided.
It is quite apparent here that Minister O’Brien is more concerned with meeting the needs of greedy developers who have little or no concern about the planned development of the Greystones area.
The fact of the situation is that Greystones has already exceeded its population target of 22,000 for 2028. And if current growth rates continue this will substantially increase by 2028.
Before the Minister railroads any more developments in the Greystones area, we need to witness a commitment from Minister O’Brien and the new Taoiseach elect Simon Harris who is based in the town, to deliver on the much needed infrastructure for the area which would support population growth.
Like many people who remember previous experiences of Fianna Fail’s manipulation of the property market, there is a fear here that the Minister wants to drag us back to old Fianna Fail style unregulated planning – and we all know how that worked out in the past.”
Local Sinn Féin representative and candidate in the local elections for the Greystones area Esther Kelly said:
“Greystones is a fantastic area to live in. It is a place of huge character. And while we all support the construction of badly needed new houses, they need to be affordable but this needs to happen alongside the development of much needed rail and road infrastructure and services, or people will be sitting in ever growing tailbacks on the N11 to get into Dublin for work.
Greystones needs amenities and services, it needs schools, roads, and health services.
Brian Fogarty who is also contesting the local elections for Sinn Féin in the Greystones area said:
“We also need to see the creation of much needed jobs in the area. Ideally people would live and work in the same area, which would remove the need for the long commutes that are such a feature of so many people’s lives in the area, particularly as they are being asked to travel on roads that are already overcrowded.
Frequency of Dart services to Greystones need to be increased, and we need to see an end to the government blocking critical infrastructure such as the upgrade to the N11.
Both Esther and I are dealing with families of Children who even at the minute cannot secure school places for the coming year. We need to see this government delivering on the promise of new schools and the needs of the people of Greystones, before it bends over backwards to meet the needs of developers.”