Beach Under Threat from Developer
(June 8, 2000)
Access to Magheramore beach has been blocked in an effort to get Wicklow County Council to give planning permission for a house overlooking the beach. Objectors are fighting the application, saying that as the area concerned is designated An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county development plan, it should be left unspoiled.
Magheramore beach is located a few miles South of Wicklow Town and is a popular spot for surfers as the waves there are some of the best on the East coast. Niall Mellon, a Dublin hotelier and developer, has bought the land around the beach and is seeking planning permission to build a house overlooking the beach. Mr. Mellon recieved permission from the county council for a similar house in 1998 after advertising the planning notice in the Cork Examiner. This permission was rejected by Bord Pleanala after an appeal by local residents.
As part of his 1997 planning application Mr. Mellon offered Wicklow county Council a fifty-year lease on the avenue and car park for £1 per year in exchange for the granting of planning permission. In April of this year locked gates were erected at the end of the avenue, preventing people from using the car park. Many regular visitors to this popular beach have expressed anger over this action.
Mark Meakin, spokesperson for the Magheramore Strand Protection Committee, says that in a meeting with Mellon the developer said that he would fight all the way to build a house there. Meanwhile the Magheramore Strand Protection Committee has asked Wicklow County Council to restore the right-of-way to the beach. The Wicklow Planning Alliance has also sent a letter to Wicklow County Council asking specifically that the matter of Magheramore Strand be dealt with in open forum.
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