Planning hearing on Greystones Harbour to end

A Bord Pleanála hearing into plans for the redevelopment of Greystones Harbour in Co Wicklow is expected to conclude in Bray today.

The hearing, in its ninth day, is inquiring into the extinguishment of rights of way, compulsory purchase orders and general suitability of the harbour site for 375 new homes, 6,000sq m (64,573sq ft) of retail space, a 230-berth marina, a boat yard and a new harbour with facilities for local clubs.

Addressing the issue of coastal protection yesterday, Fiachra Etchingham of the Greystones Protection and Development Association (GPDA) said the proposed new sailing club was in a site which was regularly lashed by waves.

Mr Etchingham, who acknowledged he was a member of the sailing club, said the corner of the harbour and Cliff Road was well known to be lashed by waves in storm weather and seaweed and stones were frequently deposited on the roadway when waters receded.

Mr Etchingham said the new location for the sailing club would suffer these effects in winter storms and he asked marine engineer Clon Ulrick, for the developers, if this had been taken into account.

Mr Etchingham also asked if a building which could withstand these conditions could be built, if it could be insured and whether in the opinion of the developers the boats and members would be safe in and around the club.

Mr Ulrick said there was no difficulty in constructing such a building and while he was not an expert on insurance, he did not believe there would be a difficulty. Mr Ulrick said precautions such as not leaving boats on the sea wall in winter were expected to be adequate.

Also yesterday, Terry Durney, a town planner of MacCabe Durney, clarified evidence he had given concerning the planning context of the proposed development.

Mr Durney told the hearing on Tuesday that while the proposal was supported by regional and national planning guidelines, it was "also set within the context" of a variation in the county development plan, adopted in 2003.

In his evidence, he had said: "It could be argued that this debate essentially took place at the time of the variation and that it is only legitimate to query the details of the proposed development and its effects on the environment."

However, Mr Durney said the words should not be seen to prejudge the outcome of the hearing. His argument had not been that the issue was already decided, but that the harbour project had much validity in terms of regional and national planning, without reference to the variation.