€2 billion Bray scheme appealed

A €2 billion town centre proposal for Bray in Co Wicklow has been criticised by locals, rival developers and a local councillor. Fiona Tyrrell reports.

However Pizarro Developments, a consortium that includes Paddy Kelly, the Durkans, Pierse Construction and Alanis, argues that, according to a survey of 400 residents it conducted, objectors are not representative of all locals.

Bray Town Council approved planning permission for the development, which will incorporate over 900 new homes and 50,000sq m (538,195sq ft) of shops, in May.

Thirteen groups to date have appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála. These include Cherrywood Science and Technology Construction Company and Florentine Properties, which are both developing rival shopping centres in Bray.

The site is located between Castle Street and the Dart line and includes the old Bray golf course, bounded by the River Dargle. The development includes a town centre core fronting the River Dargle incorporating shops, cinemas, bars, hotel, restaurants, 347 apartments, community facilities, and public plazas with a landscaped walkway along the river.

A seafront residential neighbourhood will provide 575 apartments, duplexes and townhouses.

Much local comment has been focused on the issue of flood plains and the development's proximity to the river.

Local action group Swap says that permission should not be granted without full consideration of flood protection measures for the area and has called for an oral hearing to be held.

The group, in its submission to An Bord Pleanála, state that the plans do not include appropriate measures to protect the lands in the vicinity from flooding. The developers have underestimated the risk of flooding, they add.

Cllr Ciaran O'Brien of the Green Party criticises the developers in his submission to the board for "project splitting" and says that the environmental impact statement is "fundamentally deficient".

Pizarro Developments argues that the development of flood defences has been taken over by Bray Town Council and will have to be approved by An Bord Pleanála and the Office of Public Works.

A spokesperson for the developer said that results from a survey of 400 Bray residents conducted by Amárach in March and April of this year reveal that a majority of those surveyed think that the Bray Town Centre will be good for Bray. The survey indicated that 77 per cent think the scheme will be beneficial to Bray versus 6 per cent who think it will not be beneficial (17 per cent said it would not make a different). "We note that several of the appeals are commercially-driven," he added.