Ashford area plan meeting

Residents of Ashford will have the opportunity to express their views on the future development of their village at a special meeting next Thursday, August 30.

Wicklow County Council is preparing a draft local area plan for Ashford and will host the public meeting in Chester Beatty's in Ashford from 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

The meeting will take the form of a clinic and all members of the community are invited to attend to discuss their views on the future of the village with the planning team.

An issues paper, which sets out the policies that a local area plan deals with, is available from the planning department of the county council or from the council's website.

Written submissions can be made from August 30 to September 2.

Wicklow People

Ashford Development Association ready to turn Garda Station into heritage centre

Ashford Development Association are awaiting the delivery of keys for the garda station from the Office of Public Works having already raised close to half the sum needed to renovate the building.

Following the auction a number of weeks ago which saw original drafts of a Seamus Heaney poem fetching €27,000, the ADA were presented with a cheque for €54,505 from Brian and Stephen Clarke of Clarke Auctioneers who carried out the auction in Mount Usher Gardens.

The association estimate they will need to raise €135,000 to renovate the garda station into a heritage centre.

We want to turn the garda station into a heritage and arts centre,' explains ADA secretary Sheila Clarke. Its in an ideal situation right at the heart of the village and would be somewhere we can all be proud of. Somewhere people can find art, literature and local artifacts.'

Wicklow People