Wicklow: The Developer's Paradise

Developers are living up to this explosion in demand. In Arklow, Wicklow, Avoca, Newtownmountkennedy, Bray, Greystones, Blessington and in many other towns and villages the sight of new developments is everywhere. Acre upon acre upon acre of suburban housing for people who will have to commute to Dublin to pay for the ever escalating cost.

Many of these houses are environmental nightmares. The suburban cliché means that many acres of excess land is needed. Almost all houses have three or four bedrooms - many of which will never be used by couples who are having fewer and fewer children. Shops, pubs and other natural centres of community are often miles away, necessitating the use of a car. Social services ranging from education to sewage provision are often inadequate. Many houses have very little insulation and few other conservation features. There is almost no thought given to public transportation.

And there are serious social issues also. What happens to a massive housing estate with little or no social services during an economic downturn? How can a natural community form when most of its members work fifty miles away and spend three hours per day in their cars?

And what happens to existing communities when individuals can no longer afford housing in the area, unable to compete against the professionals from Dublin for limited housing stock? Last year only 120 council houses were built in Wicklow and the number does not look like it will increase in the near future. Where will the over 1,500 on Wicklow's housing list go? Dublin? London?

Current development in county Wicklow will affect the environment, society and day-to-day life in the county for many decades to come. Our grandchildren will be affected by the decisions being made today. Short-term, reactive thinking about development in Wicklow that favours developers and profit above all else will be a disaster for everybody. The value of some things is only clear after they are gone.