Scale of Greystones redevelopment 'too greedy'

A €300 million redevelopment scheme for Greystones harbour in Co Wicklow, is to be raised in the Dáil by the deputy leader of the Labour Party Liz McManus.

Wicklow County Council and its private sector partner, the Sispar consortium, are seeking planning permission from An Bord Pleanála for the scheme, which includes commercial facilities and 375 apartments.

Ms McManus, who represents Wicklow, will tell a protest meeting in Greystones Rugby Club tonight that while she is not opposed to public private partnerships in principle, the scale of the Greystones redevelopment is "too greedy".

Included in the proposal is a 230-berth marina, 6,400sq m of commercial, mainly marine-related units, a boardwalk and a 15-acre park. Wicklow County Council is in the process of compulsorily purchasing 40 acres of land around the harbour, including the foreshore, much of which it will transfer to Sispar for the construction of the apartments. Local sailing and angling clubs, which are to lose their facilities, are to be accommodated elsewhere in the refurbished harbour.

However, Ms McManus has written to Minister for the Environment Dick Roche - also a Wicklow TD - advising him of the Labour Party's intention to pursue in Dáil Éireann "the national implications of offering precious public amenities to private developers in breach of the wishes of local communities".

She said there were "many concerns that a public beach is being compulsory purchased and handed over to private commercial development",

Greystones town councillors have indicated that they will not attend tonight's meeting, as it clashes with the monthly town council meeting. Opponents of the development scheme plan to picket the council.

A number of harbour users have formed the Harbour Users Group (HUGs). Supporters point out the harbour is in serious decay while the coast suffers from severe erosion.

A rally organised by opponents of the scheme last December was counter-picketed by members of HUGs, who paraded a flotilla of boats in the harbour calling for the scheme to go ahead.