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).