Wicklow seafront's old brown gym building to become residential

An Bord Pleanála has overturned a decision by Wicklow County Council refusing permission to change the usage of a building on Wicklow's sea front from a gym to residential. Last year Maurice Sheehy applied to Wicklow County council for a change of use of a building previously used as a gym to residential building consisting of four apartments at ground floor level with private terracing, with unchanged plans granted to two apartments with balconies and changes to roof profile at first floor level, alterations to external facades including windows, doors, eternal wall rendering and associated works. However, the local authority planning section refused permission on the grounds that the development was considered contrary to the harbour strategy in place as part of the Wicklow town and Rathnew Development Plan 2013-2019 and was also considered contrary to the Town Centre zoning objective.  An appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanála, who back in August of 2017 gave permission for a change of use at the same premises from gym to a mixed development consisting of licensed restaurant/café, beach shop with take-away facility, and function room, all at ground floor level, and two one-bedroom apartments at first floor level, and alterations to external facades.

Read the full article @ The Wicklow People

The Board's decision and Inspector's Report can be viewed here.

The Board stated in making the decision:

"Having regard to the Town Centre zoning objective for the area, the existing pattern of development in the vicinity and recent planning history relating to the site, it is considered that, subject to compliance with the conditions set out below, the proposed development would not contravene the provisions of the Wicklow Town – Rathnew Development Plan 2013-2019, would be compatible with the existing pattern of development in the vicinity and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area".

The Murrough to get a complete facelift

WICKLOW TOWN Council will take over the management of the contract to restore the Murrough to its former beauty. The appearance of the scenic area following works on the Wicklow Sewerage Scheme and Port Access Road has caused plenty of local criticism.

Wicklow People

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Landscape work begins at Murrough before councillors get to see plans

SURPRISE has been expressed that landscaping work has already started along the Murrough before plans were shown to Wicklow Town Council.

Councillors had complained during the last meeting of 2009 about the condition the Murrough was in as work on the town relief road and port access road took place. At the same December meeting they were told they would be provided with drawings of the landscape plans before any of the works took place.

However, at the first meeting of 2010 last week, Cllr. Pat Kavanagh pointed out that landscaping work had already taken place which she didn't

regard as being suitable to the area.

'There were meant to be picnic tables in one part of the Murrough but that same area has now been planted with saplings. The area for the picnic tables is no longer there. Now leaves and litter will gather underneath. It's the sort of work you carry out on embankments. It might be low maintenance and little mowing needed, but it isn't advisable for the areas it's in.'

She felt the best option was to take up the saplings already planted.

Town Manager, Michael Nicholson, agreed that the elected members were promised they would be shown a finished landscape plan before work started and said he would immediately follow up the matter.

Myles BUCHANAN
Wicklow People

www.buckplanning.ie

Flood works not included in Wicklow Town's South Quay repairs

WORKS WILL take place early in the New Year to strengthen the road at South Quay but flood protection works won't be included.

The road is in danger of falling into the river and Wicklow Town Council and the Port Company have both agreed to share part of the bill as both own part of the road. Work on the road should start sometime in January or early February of 2010.

Speaking at the most recent Wicklow Town Council meeting, Town Manager Michael Nicholson, said, 'funding is not in place but we have made an application. We already have development levies adopted for the project so we can at least start work. We will also have to look at the road grant for next year.'

Cllr. Pat Byrne had earlier noted that 'if the work doesn't start soon then the road will fall into the river.'

Cllr. Eamonn Long said any works taking place should involved flood protection works as well. But Mr. Nicholson urged the members to go ahead with the road improvement works, pointing out that consultants had already warned that by stopping flooding in one area, you are only moving it on to another.

Wicklow People

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Plans for massacre site angers locals

A WICKLOW developer has come under fire over attempts to build houses on the site of a 17th-century massacre in which hundreds of Irish peasants were slaughtered by British forces.

The local authority recently granted planning permission for the development at Weston Close in Ballyguile but now residents, politicians and historians are appealing it to An Bord Pleanála.

Environment minister John Gormley has also responded to submissions made by a concerned party and his department is currently reviewing the granted planning permission. However, a spokesperson for the department said that they do not have any remit to interfere with a local authority's decision in planning matters. According to local sources, the soil entombs the remains of over 300 people whose bodies were first discovered by the local authority in the 1930s. The find halted earlier development attempts.

But developer Paddy Meyler told the Sunday Tribune that he has archaeological reports from an original planning permission in 1996 that shows there are no remains where he is planning to build three houses. That planning permission lapsed in 2001 and the application was subsequently renewed.

The 17th-century victims had crowded into a church on the site which was burned to the ground by vengeful soldiers following a raid on Black Castle by the O'Toole clan, some time around the late 1640s.

"The Irish above all have always shown respect for the dead," said Eamonn Griffin of the National Graves Association. "Anytime anyone has gone near the area they have found remains. The reason this is important is that this is the last resting place of civilians who were massacred."

A meeting of local residents and other concerned parties took place last week to plan their next objection, this time to An Bord Pleanála.

Sinn Féin councillor Eamonn Long, who is amongst the objectors, said the massacre was an act of vengeance by Sir Charles Coote, a military leader during the infamous Cromwellian era. "Many of them tried to escape the fire but they [the British soldiers] killed them on the way out," he said. "Generations of people have passed this story down and the area actually got its name from that day – Baile na nGol, which means 'the hill of the crying'."

Long claims that previous attempts to develop the site were halted by the Office of Public Works (OPW) for the same reasons. "A lot of people are aware of the history of the site. They are not against building as such but they want the council to preserve this site."

However, the developer claims that archaeologists have already said there are no remains, but that they will be present during construction. He has also promised to provide a memorial to the victims and a public park.

Sunday Tribune

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Architectural Conservation Area proposal for Wicklow Town is rejected

PROPOSALS TO turn from Abbey Street to Market Square into an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) were rejected by four votes to three at Monday's Town Council meeting despite the Town Manager's insistence that it would be good for Wicklow.

The ACA was meant to maintain Wicklow's build heritage along the Main Street and ensure that any developments not in keeping with the town's character wouldn't be allowed to go ahead.

The proposal before the Council called for a variation of the Wicklow Town Development Plan 2007 to include the ACA.

Cllr. Conal Kavanagh said he was happy to vote in favour of the proposed ACA. 'It's not specifically targeting certain buildings. It's just to maintain Wicklow's build heritage and as someone who was born and raised in Wicklow I regard this as the right move. I think it's a complete red herring to say the current economic climate is a reason not to accept. It's not because of an ACA that things are going wrong in Wicklow Town.'

He also pointed out that if an ACA had already been in place beyond the tennis courts then the Xtra-Vision development would not have been allowed to go ahead.

'Instead we turned it down and An Bord Pleanála over-ruled us. Now it remains one of the biggest scars in Wicklow Town.'

Town Manager Michael Nicholson said he was disappointed when an ACA wasn't included in the original Town Development Plan and it could be used as a tool be developers.

'If someone comes in now and wants to develop something outrageous with plastic and flashing coloured lights, and we turn it down, they can just go to Bord Pleanála. The Bord don't live in Wicklow Town and know nothing about the history of the town.'

As an example he mentioned if McDonalds wanted to open up on the main street with the big golden arch neon sign placed in a very prominent position.

However, he had a difficult time convincing all the elected members that an ACA was a positive step for Wicklow.

'There are about eight or more shops vacant in the town now. Personally I would love McDonalds to open up here.

'That would mean more employment.'

Cllr. Bob Kearns said they were just covering old ground.

'We have been here before. An ACA restricts one person and then allows their neighbour to go ahead.'

Cllr. Denis Teevan felt, 'I have been against an ACA since day one. In the present climate I don't see it attracting anyone to the town at this stage.'

Voting in favour of the variation were Cllr. Kavanagh, Cllr. Irene Winters and Mayor John O'Brien. Cllr. Eamonn Long and Cllr. Fachtna Whittle weren't present, and the other four members present voted against the proposal.

Myles BUCHANAN
Wicklow People

www.buckplanning.ie

St Mantan’s is demolished for civic offices

A PIECE of Wicklow Town’s history bit the dust during the week as St. Mantan’s House was demolished.

Recently the building has been home to Wicklow Tourism and other council associated buildings and in the past has been used as a hospital to treat ill and injured locals.

The building was all but levelled by bulldozers in order to make way for a new Wicklow town civic offices. By the end of the week the demolition should be complete. Resurfacing work will then follow and the site will be used as a temporary car park to try and free up some additional spaces in town.

Wicklow Town Council estimate that the temporary car park should be marked out and in place by the end of September

Wicklow People

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South Quay works to cost in region of €2m

A rough estimate for the cost of improvement works on the South Quay is €2 million despite the fact that Wicklow County Council don't have any money for the project.Town Clerk Michael Nicholson made it clear at Monday's monthly meeting that money was still an issue after a presentation by Dr. Phillip Hull of Doran Consulting on the quay.

A rough estimate for the cost of improvement works on the South Quay is €2 million despite the fact that Wicklow County Council don't have any money for the project.

Town Clerk Michael Nicholson made it clear at Monday's monthly meeting that money was still an issue after a presentation by Dr. Phillip Hull of Doran Consulting on the quay.

We have no money to do it. If we go looking for money there is no guarantee that we will get it or get enough. If we go as far as tender then we may get more,' stated Mr. Nicholson.

He also queried if the wall at South Quay was in as bad a condition as various consultants had made out.

Seven years ago we were told it was an impending disaster. I have yet to meet consultants who have ever said it's grad lads, you don't need to do anything.''

Mr. Nicholson wondered if reducing the amount of traffic using the quay to a one way system might solve the problem just as well.

However, Dr. Hull disagreed and said there were dangerous signs along the quay like cracks in the road.

It's in poor condition and is only going to get worse.'

Meanwhile trouble over a securing a Foreshore License means that the initial plan for the quay had to be redesigned. The department responsible for the license felt that narrowing the river would result in flooding elsewhere. As a result the line of the wall has been redesigned to match the line already in place.

This alarmed some councillors who wanted the wall raised to try and prevent flooding along the quay.

If the department refuse to give the license it sees futile to put in a new quay wall and still have the river coming over the top of it.

It won't be doing the one thing it should be doing, raising the wall by half a metre or so,' said Cllr. Bob Kearns.

The redesign also makes the project more complicated and a time scale of works is now estimated at 50 weeks rather than the original 35.

Wicklow People

www.buckplanning.ie

Councillors inspect Brides Head GAA development

The lovely weather offered Wicklow Town Councillors the perfect excuse for a leisurely stroll up to Brides Head to see what was planned for the new GAA development.

The current plans are at a particularly early stage, though moves have already been made to appoint an architect. The development could include a number of pitches, a running track, changing rooms and a club house.

Discussions between St. Patrick's GAA Club and the town council are understood to be going well. However, the location of the planned development so far from the town centre is sure to cause some concerns. A number of council members looking over the site for themselves on Monday evening made similar comments, while others noted that strong winds gusting in off the coast could also prove problematic, particularly during the colder winter months.

Hopping over a rickety old farm fence didn't prove too troublesome for the elected members, even the less agile amongst them, but rumours that a rather large bull may be roaming the fields untethered certainly seemed to put the wind up one or two people.

The site in question is between 40 and 50 acres in size.

As well as catering for the local GAA club, it is hoped that the running track can be used by Inbhear Dee Athletics Club.

Wicklow People