Economic Chapter

Uimhir Thagarta Uathúil:

WW-C2-249

Stádas:

Submitted

Údar:

Carina Harte-Holmes

Comhairliúchán:

Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-2027

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Níl

Údar:

Carina Harte-Holmes

Litir Chumhdaigh

I am resident of Delgany for over 16 years and have recently been motivated to comment on a number of residential and other developments in the area. I am also a member of a number of local community groups. Given the large increase in population in this area over the last number of years, it has become abundantly clear to me that there is an urgent need for joined-up and integrated planning in terms of infrastructure, education, health, employment, etc in the area. Giving permission for housing is necessary, but is far from sufficient, there needs to be a much more holisitic approach taken to planning which ensures that development is sustainable on all fronts for current and future residents. Due care also needs to be taken to preserve and protect the heritage and character of areas, for example, Delgany is an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA)) which has an abundance of mature native trees, wildlife and areas of outstanding natural beauty in the Coolagad/Kindlestown Wood/Glen of the Downs area. it was described by the late great resident of Delgany, Éamon de Buitléar, as a "hotbed" for wonderful flora and fauna. I, like DCC, welcome the fact that Delgany village centre is recognised as an ACA, and we hope that Wicklow County Council will ensure the preservation and protection of the unique heritage character of the village will continue into the future.

I fully support the submissions of Wicklow Planning Alliance, Greystones Tidy Towns, Delgany Tidy Towns (DTT), Delgany Community Council (DCC), Greystones Area Planning (GAP), Irish Architects Declare and Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly to help guide sustainable planning and development in Co. Wicklow.

Tuairimí

Chapter 9 Economic Development

Caibidil:

Volume 1 » Chapter 9 Economic Development

Sustainable living means that a detailed employment/job plan is needed for the areas of housing expansion in County Wicklow. As a resident in Delgany, this is particularly noticeable in the Greystones/Delgany area over the last two to three years - within a radius of two kilometres of Delgany village there has been a huge increase in urbanisation from what was a semi-rural area. As a result, we have significant and ever-increasing infrastructural deficits in Delgany/Greystones in relation to key services such as education, health, public transport and road infrastructure. Given permission for housing and residential units alone does not constitute planning, a holistic approach is urgently needed in this area. In excess of 100 sixth class children in this area earlier in 2021 had no secondary school to go in September 2021, and the solution for some of these students is a new prefab school on the GAA grounds in Greystones, which started construction in early July. This new school is located beside the prefab primary school on the Rugby sports grounds (which after five years is finally moving to its new school premises this September). Given that the highest cohort of the population in the 2016 Census was our 0-9 years, the problem that has emerged with respect to school places in both primary and secondary schools was already in the pipeline from the 2016 population numbers which means that this crisis could have been averted if planned for in advance. The huge increase in population since 2016 is clearly adding to this problem. A number of potential buyers of new houses, who have small children, are now choosing to buy new homes elsewhere in places such as Malahide because they can’t get places for their children in the local primary schools. Planning in Wicklow, and elsewhere, urgently needs to be joined-up and integrated and the draft County Development Plan would benefit hugely from evidence of joint plans with the Departments of Education, Health. Transport, Environment, Climate and Communication and Housing. Local Government and Heritage. There also needs to be stronger contacts established with Enterprise Ireland and the IDA to plan for and attract more sustainable highly paid employment in this area. The CDP would benefit from more up-to-date information and data in relation to the population forecasts and projections as these are critical to enable all stakeholders, including local residents, to understand the future planning needs in this area (the widespread use of the 2016 Census data in the draft CDP does not accurately reflect the current population in Greystones and Delgany). While it can be difficult to get up-to-date data, the use of forecasting and econometric methods and tools would help to ensure that the most accurate projections are made so that all services, amenities and infrastructure (i.e. transport, utilities, etc) can be planned for in advance and brought on stream in a timely manner. At the moment all services and infrastructure in this area are overstretched and overloaded.

The CDP would benefit from the inclusion of tables along the following lines:

Population	Census 2016	Current estimates 2021	2025 Projections	2030 Forecasts	Additional Housing needed/targets already achieved:
A. Delgany
B. Greystones
C. Kilcoole[CH1]
Total A+B+C

Impact of population changes on:	Health Public health centres	Education -primary -secondary	Transport Public transport improvements Road infrastructure	Utilities Water Sewerage ESB Broadband	Community Amenities Playgrounds Open Public Parks
Delgany
Greystones
Kilcoole

Additional tables, like the above, would help community stakeholders and residents to see the plans, based on population forecasts, for infrastructure, services and other community amenities that are needed in the local area when housing expands.

There is a need for high value-added jobs (i.e. highly paid employment) in the Delgany/Greystones area. The majority of existing and new residents in Greystones/Delgany will most likely need to commute to Dublin for their work when offices open again in late 2021/early 2022 (using the 2016 Census data means that the number of commuters and their commuting times are significantly underestimated). Increasing the number of cycle and pedestrian path will only be really useful if residents can choose to work locally, which is currently not the case as shown by the low jobs ratio in this area. Wicklow, as a county, needs a detailed strategy and plan to attract high value-added employment companies which will give residents good options in terms of local employment opportunities (e.g. ICT/financial services office/data hubs in Bray and Greystones). A number of financial companies are also looking to find satellite offices outside Dublin and there’s a significant opportunity for Wicklow County Council to be pro-active in setting out a strategy and plan to attract these type of companies to set up in the county. To make the area attractive to these type of industries and companies, there is need for a satellite third level hub/centre of excellence, most likely from one of the major universities in Dublin such as UCD, Trinity or DCU. By locating in the county, these satellite centres could act as an anchor and a collaborator with the new companies/industry partners. This would also help to encourage further clustering of these high value-added (highly paid) industries and service companies. Clermont in Rathnew will not be sufficient. While the Media/Film site in Greystones is very welcome, this sector is not known to provide secure and highly paid employment.
[CH1]

Chapter 4 Settlement Strategy

Caibidil:

Volume 1 » Chapter 4 Settlement Strategy

Delgany-Greystones needs to be classified as a “Self-Sustaining Town” in line with the Eastern Midland Regional Assembly’s proposal on this draft CDP, rather than a “Self-Sustaining Growth Town”. Given that the population within a two kilometre radius of the centre of the village of Delgany has increased dramatically within the last three years, there is now an urgent need to pause development in order to allow infrastructure and services to catch-up.

Chapter 6 Housing

Caibidil:

Volume 1 » Chapter 6 Housing

There needs to be much a greater use of brownfield sites in higher densities in areas such as Bray, Wicklow and Arklow. This would be in line with the urgent national need to provide more 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom apartments in well-established urban areas with infrastructure and services already available. This is, according to a number of economic reports and research studies, where the national demand and need is greatest. Urban sprawl and car dependent residential development is not sustainable. WCC should insist that developers undertake social audits and show where the local capacity lies in terms of local public transport, school and creche places, health services, etc.
The proposed use of “bus stops” in the CDP as indicator for increased density (up to 50 units per hectare) makes little sense if the road infrastructure in small villages, such as Delgany, cannot support frequent bus services. Delgany is currently serviced by the 84A which runs on an hourly timetable and the 84X which runs at peak hours. This can only be classified as a very limited and inefficient service given that it takes the bus close to two-hours to reach Dublin city centre. It renders it meaningless as an effective and efficient means of transport for commuters. The use of the DART services in Greystones is limited to two trains per hour even at rush hour (because of the single track from Bray) and this service reached its capacity several years ago. This leaves the car as the only viable option for commuters and there has been virtually no change in the road infrastructure in Delgany/Greystones, which has led to long and increasingly longer car commutes and more stressed residents. While the need to commute every day will be reduced with hybrid working arrangements, it will not be eliminated and the large number of new residents in North East Wicklow will suffer loss of precious family time and much needed leisure time due to long and increasing commute times. For hard-pressed residents who need to commute to work when offices re-open later this year, getting up 10 minutes earlier every few months to beat the ever increasing and earlier traffic is not good for their wellbeing, their family commitments nor the environment. This is simply not sustainable living unless viable public transport options are implemented very quickly (e.g. dedicated express bus corridors, a major change to the DART infrastructure, etc).

Appendix 6 Strategic Environmental Assessment

Caibidil:

Appendices » Appendix 6 Strategic Environmental Assessment

Need to protect visual amenity, wildlife and very mature and beautiful native deciduous trees. Heritage sites in Delgany, such as Kindlestown Castle, which has given its name to a large part of the area, has seen the removal of beautiful mature eucalyptus, birch, elm and other deciduous trees at the rear and side of the existing site grounds. Virtually no mature trees have been retained on the Eastmount and Melwood development sites in Delgany. Given the widespread destruction of beautiful healthy mature native trees, planning permissions for future developments on Chapel/Convent Roads, Delgany, need to have much more tree preservation orders to protect the limited number of remaining mature trees and the wonderful wildlife habitats and ecosytems that they support.

The concrete and tarmac cycle and pedestrian paths that are replacing beautiful mature native trees and wildlife in Delgany means that there is a now a need to limit the further destruction of the wonderful scenic areas in this locality. Given the increased populations in Delgany/Greystones over the last couple of years, I wish to request that the area of great natural beauty between Redford Cemetery, Templecarrig, up through Coolagad, by Kindlestown Wood, over by the Little Sugar Loaf and down to the Glen of the Downs woodlands be preserved as a “Green Belt”. I hope that Wicklow County Council will choose to “preserve and protect” this area of great natural beauty for current and future residents. A balance now needs to be struck where the wellbeing of all residents (i.e. current, new and future residents) is protected so that they have access to the beautiful natural environment in the local area. Building a Northern Access Road from Greystones through this area of great natural beauty will lead to huge residential overdevelopment (i.e. the new road infrastructure would justify new residential developments in this area). There is currently no playground, nor public park in Delgany, for all new young families who have established their home here and there is an urgent need to preserve and protect the areas of great natural beauty close by. Given the importance of the lands for amenity use and the amazing wildlife habitats they support at Templecarrig/Coolagad/Kindlestown Wood/Little Sugar Loaf/Glen of the Downs, I request that no further residential zoning be given in this area and that the plans for the road through to Glen of the Downs be removed from the CDP (Northern Access Road to Greystones).

Chapter 1 Introduction and Strategic Context

Caibidil:

Volume 1 » Chapter 1 Introduction and Strategic Context

Economic Chapter

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