Who is the 'Development' for?

Wicklow County Council and the county's three UDCs have responded to this situation seemingly by rezoning as much of the county as possible to facilitate building. According to recently revised plans the population of Newtownmountkennedy will nearly triple to 6000 in the next four years while Kilkoole is expected to grow to 4,500 in the same time period. This growth was originally envisaged as occurring over twenty years. Similar phenomenal levels of growth are anticipated in other areas of the county.

Socially - in terms of schools, social infrastructure and community cohesion and also physically -in terms of the local environment, such growth can only be described as pathological. These are communities that have evolved over centuries - communities with history, with local culture, with individual character. If such massive growth comes to pass they will be rapidly transformed into standard and alienated dormitory suburbs for commuters -much like those elsewhere elsewhere in Ireland, Britain, and the world. Much, if not all of the original identity and social heritage of these villages (the reason so many tourists come to this Island) will be lost forever. Uncontrolled growth is how villages and communities lose that invisible but most important aspect of their character -their soul.

This is why such development contravenes the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area and is why the Department of the Environment is threatening to taking responsibility for planning away from Wicklow County Council entirely, thus removing any local input. However, it begs a fundamental question. Why is Wicklow County Council pursuing this policy?

It cannot be because of a desire to provide badly needed accommodation for local people. The vast majority of these planned new houses will not be for local people, who cannot afford them, but for commuters with far fewer ties to the area. In any case, the miserable number of council housing starts in the Garden County illustrate clearly the lack of priority given to this vital issue. Furthermore, in this time of labour shortages it surely also cannot be because of the potential for jobs. There are too many jobs, and the immigrants that must be encouraged to fill them will also need housing

Could it possibly be that the massive, rapid growth envisaged by Wicklow County Council is for nobody but the developers and is instead the product of an outdated 'development at any cost' mentality? If Wicklow County Council is really motivated by a desire to assist the citizens of Wicklow in finding affordable accommodation, where are the council housing starts? Where is the support and encouragement for housing co-ops? Where is the strategic, sustainable planning for high-density, in-town housing balanced with services that would enhance communities rather than destroy them?

The people of County Wicklow will live with the consequences of the decisions being made now for centuries. It is vitally important that these decisions be good ones.