Planning board to reopen harbour hearing

An Bord Pleanála is to reopen a hearing into a controversial development for Greystones Harbour.

The planning board notified Wicklow County Council yesterday that the hearing would reopen. The council and its private-sector partner, Sispar Consortium, had submitted additional information and revised plans for the harbour development to the board.

An oral hearing on the original plan was held last summer. It included a new Coast Guard station, a new beach area, a public boardwalk and 6,400sq m (20,997sq ft) of commercial, mainly marine-related, units. A 15-acre park and a 230-berth marina with a public slipway were also part of the plan.

An Bord Pleanála asked the council to resubmit plans, reducing housing and deleting apartment blocks close to Victorian housing in the area. It also instructed them to put the revised plans on public display.

It received 3,650 submissions following the display.

A spokesman for the council and Sispar yesterday said they welcomed the board's swift decision. He also said that while no date for the hearing had been set, they hoped it would take place at the earliest opportunity and that a final decision by the board would follow soon afterwards.

Evelyn Cawley, spokeswoman for the Greystones Protection and Development Association, said they welcomed the reopening of the hearing.

"It does indicate that there are major flaws in the plan," she said.

"We did think there were enough flaws in the application for the board to have rejected it outright, but we are delighted with a second opportunity to present at the oral hearing."

She added that the group would have to raise funds to present another submission and called on the council to follow in the footsteps of Fingal County Council, which funds community groups to get independent expert opinions on council projects.