County Development Plan submission on behalf of Delgany Community Council
Delgany Community Council recognises the time and work invested in bringing this plan to draft stage. We also appreciate the fact that our comments made at an earlier stage have been acknowledged.
We would like to make the following additional comments:
Chapter 2 Overall Strategy
Placemaking
We recognise the importance of this concept as well as the difficulty in outlining concrete actions to enable it to be fully realised. The County Development Plan needs to set out objectives that are specific, timebound and attainable instead of being aspirational. We would suggest the following:
Social audits to be conducted and updated in areas like Greystones and Delgany where there has been significant development without provision of suitable services and community facilities. Social audits that are submitted by developers need to be examined, assessed and commented on as they are sometimes inaccurate due to lack of local knowledge.
2.1.1.1 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
All future developments should be assessed in line with the UNSDG. The most relevant for our county include:
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
2.1.1.2 Healthy Ireland and 2.1.1.3 National Physical Activity Plan
Delgany lacks an open, publicly accessible green space. Amenities like Delgany Golf Club are limited to members. There is no playground in Delgany despite the growing population of young families. The village would also benefit from a public park and such a facility could also help to conserve habitat and biodiversity. Consideration should also be given to the creation of community gardens and provision of space for allotments.
Relevant National Policy Objectives relating to Healthy Placemaking
NPO 17
Enhance, integrate and protect the special physical, social, economic and cultural value or builtheritage assets through appropriate and sensitive use now and for future generations.
The Carmelite site in Delgany is the opportunity for Wicklow County Council to create and sustain a community centre.
The RSES identifies guiding principles for the creation of healthy and attractive places. The Strategy acknowledges that ‘the creation of healthy and attractive places requires ongoing improvements to the physical and social infrastructure of our urban centres’.
Delgany is in the process of a Public Realm Consultation. We hope that the village can be prioritised and championed for future investment to reale any suggested improvements in the public realm.
R.P.O. 9.17 is also of great relevance to Delgany:
“To support local authorities in the development of regional scale Open Space and Recreational facilities particularly those close to large or growing population centres in the Region”.
Delgany needs identification of and investment in open space and recreational facilities.
Climate ChangeRPO 3.5
“Identification of suitable employment and residential lands and suitable sites for infrastructureshould be supported by a quality site selection process that addresses environmental concernsuch as landscape, cultural heritage, ensuring the protection of water quality, flood risks andbiodiversity as a minimum”.
This objective is extremely important and may require changes to zoning in the LAP. The Greystones/Delgany area has not been successful in attracting high quality employment. This means that it has become a commuter town and car dependent due to the lack of high quality public transport.
R.P.O 3.6: All planning applications should be assessed in terms of their carbon impact.
Wicklow County Council took the lead in terms of Climate Action Plans, and was the first county to declare a climate emergency, and should also be a leader in terms of the implementation and taking of concrete actions.
Pg 20 Sustainable Transport-While other areas have seen improvements in journey times and frequency of services, the journey time between Greystones and the city centre has increased compounded by a reduction in frequency of services. Delgany needs improved links to the Dart station in Greystones, including a better and more frequent bus service, and the construction of the proposed Delgany Greenway which would facilaitate cycle and electric scooter commuting.
SCO 10-Would like to see St Thomas FET campus in Bray prioritised for further development and an Education and training institute.