This week in Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, the little tern fledglings are trying out their wings down on the marsh by the beach, Tidy Towns volunteers are pulling out weeds on Main Street and everyone is talking about how the new area draft plan will affect their village, renowned as the setting for RTE's Glenroe television series.
Unveiled last Monday at the council offices in Wicklow Town, the Kilcoole Draft Plan will go on public display and local residents will be able to comment on the proposals for the village's expansion. There is a three-month statutory consultation period where amendment is possible. However, according to a spokesman in the council's planning department, the draft plan has "statutory significance" and it will be difficult to change. The document takes into account the overspill of Dublin's population into the surrounding counties. Villages within 25 miles of the city, such as Kilcoole and Newtownmountkennedy, have become attractive locations for commuters.
Kilcoole is located three miles south of Greystones on the coast, with a shingle beach which is a nesting place for ringed plover, oystercatcher and tern. Otters are often spotted in the marshy inlet at the beach's southern end. Dominating the centre of the village is a massive slate and quartz rock with the ruins of 12th century St Comgall's church and graveyard at its base. One of the plan's objectives is to create a town park focused on this ancient site. There are seven golf courses within a three-mile radius and the village is a mecca for walkers and anglers from all over north Wicklow.
Kilcoole has been designated in the county plan as a Secondary Urban Area and its neighbour, Newtownmount kennedy, as a Primary Urban Area. There is recognition in the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area that the hinterland area covered by these Co Wicklow villages should meet local, not regional need. Despite this, the council expects the number of houses in Kilcoole to double by 2016. Also that these houses are likely be built within the new draft plan's five-year period.
Most of the planning applications currently being processed are covered by the provisions of the draft plan. Among them are proposals for 170 houses and a shopping mall on a four-acre site behind the Molly Malone pub and over 200 houses in the Lotts Lane area. Upgrading of the sewerage system and the roads will pave the way for new development in the entire area. Newcastle is virtually unaffected by new development in the current plan.
Residents of Newtownmountkennedy, an area designated for major growth in the coming five years, are concerned at the prospect of their village becoming a bland commuter town. Local groups in both areas are looking for a proper social infrastructure to be put in place. A phased building programme with some contribution from the developers to social amenities is another joint aspiration.
In the Kilcoole plan, the marshlands are identified as a Special Protected Area for their ornithological, botanical and zoological interest. Improved access to the beach is suggested and the pedestrian track to Kilcoole Rock and the Mass path to Kilquade Church will be preserved as an amenity. The row of attractive period houses on Main Street is mentioned as worthy of notice and the creation of a central civic space is suggested for the south end of this street.
Three golf clubs to the south, east and north of Kilcoole and the sea to the east may curtail the outward spread of housing development in the short term. With a large population of young people keen to stay in the village, residents here are giving a cautious welcome to the prospect of a greater housing supply. Prices, however, may not suit local pockets.
The RTE series Glenroe put Kilcoole on the map and tour buses full of sightseers are a familiar scene in the village. Miley's vegetable shop, Lily's newsagents and the Molly Malone pub are the main attractions. The Molly Malone has recently changed hands and is to be given a facelift.
There is a nucleus of long-term residents who work hard to keep the character of the village intact. The local soccer and GAA clubs provide activity for the large young population in the village. The two local primary schools are bursting at the seams and construction of the long-promised VEC second-level school is expected to begin soon on a nine acre site at Creowen.
Two distinct groups of people live in Kilcoole - indigenous residents who have lived here for several generations and young families who came for the affordable housing and attractive lifestyle. This is excellent first-time buyer territory, at under £140,000 for a three-bedroom ex-council house with good gardens and a three-bed semi on a private estate for around £10,000 more. There is no one exclusive area, although Sea Road with its access to the beach and Carraig Mor estate with its detached houses are popular locations. Sherry FitzGerald has just agreed the sale of one of the Carraig Mor houses for £200,000.
At the entrance to the village from Greystones and off Lotts Lane, there are a number of County Council estates such as Bayview and Cedarwood. House prices for these, however, are catching up with private estates. REMAX Garden County have a Bayview Close three-bed semi for sale quoting excess £145,000. Trading Places has a couple of three-bed semis in Beechwood, priced at £145,000 and £155,000. H J Byrne has another Beechwood three-bed house for £155,000-plus and Mitchell Quinn McLernon is asking £145,000 for a three-bedroom semi in Bayview.
There are several private developments, the most popular of which seem to be Seaview, Rock Manor, Beechdale and Meadowbrook and Riverside estates. A three-bedroom semi in Riverside is currently for sale with Trading Places for £150,000 and Glenroe Estates has another on the market at the same price. Glenroe Estates is selling a three-bedroom detached bungalow in Beechdale for excess £165,000 and a semi-detached bungalow in Seaview estate in the region of £150,000. Mitchell Quinn McLernon has another Seaview three-bed semi for £155,000-plus.
Houses on Sea Road rarely come up and so attract a lot of interest when they do. There is a mix of large one-off bungalows and houses, with a few quaint ex-council cottages on generous plots. One of these with planning for a second house in the garden is for sale with Glenroe estates with an asking price of £220,000. REMAX is selling another cottage on half an acre for £285,000. Mitchell Quinn McLernon is also selling one of the Sea Road cottages, priced at £145,000.
Ballydonarea House, a three-bedroom red tin-roofed cottage with a coach-house on Sea Road is for sale through Glenroe Estates for in excess of £250,000.
The pretty period cottages on the Main Street (said to have been built for railway workers) rarely come on the market. The last one sold about five years ago through Mitchell Quinn McLernon for around £26,000. They have commercial potential and would probably fetch £180,000-plus in today's market. Further up the street, one of the 1930s cottages with long front gardens is for sale with Glenroe Estates for in excess of £170,000.
