‘Missing files’ add to development unease

wicklow | anti-capitalism | other press Friday May 26, 2006 12:11 by Mick Hall - Daily Ireland 25 May 2006

Residents have strongly objected to plans, now meeting minutes are gone

Concerns have been raised over the transparency of one of Ireland’s biggest proposed developments.

The €2 billion (£1.4 billion) plan by the Pizarro Development Consortium to build a high-density development on the 62-acre site on Bray town golf course in Co Wicklow was passed by Bray Town Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council earlier this month.

Local residents have strongly objected to the plan, concerned it will cause widespread flooding in the Little Bray part of town, affecting more than 700 homes. The residents are holding a public meeting next Monday to discuss a campaign to have the high-density build of shops, offices and residential homes moved away from the River Dargle flood plain and relocated to higher ground on the site.

Picture shows Sinn Fein Cllr. John Brady with Sinn Fein TD Sean Crowe and party member Marie Gavaghan checking proposed plans for develepment on the natural flood plain on in the Dargle valley, Bray, Co. Wicklow. [Pic: Shayne Phelan]

Cllr. John Brady, Sean Crowe TD and Marie Gavaghan

They believe an area of 18 acres (7.3 hectares) set aside for a public park and Gaelic games pitches should be located on the flood plain instead.

Sinn Fein councillor John Brady has expressed concern that detailed development plans, including scale models, had been submitted by Pizzaro just months after the land had been re-zoned by the council for mixed use in January 2005. He is demanding to know what was discussed or agreed between the council and developers before the submission. During last month’s council meeting Mr Brady requested copies of minutes taken during pre-planning meetings between the council manager, Des O’Brien, and Pizarro.
He was refused, even though an elected representative.

When Daily Ireland lodged a Freedom of Information request with Wicklow County Council, an officer informed the paper that, under the Planning and Development Act 2000, all pre-planning consultation meetings were required to be placed on the public planning file, once a decision on a planning application has been taken.
A spokeswoman for Bray Town Council claimed the pre-planning minutes had “gone missing” from the public planning file. When asked if another copy existed, she replied: “No, no other copy of the information is available.”

A spokesman later said the document had gone missing from the file after it had been opened to public inspection. “No security cameras were located in the area of inspection, so we cannot ascertain how they went missing,” he said.

Councillor Brady said the discrepancy amounted to “carelessness bordering on the suspicious”.
“I have become very, very sceptical of the whole process,” said Brady.
“My first question is blindingly obvious. Were the minutes not typed up on a computer? If they were – and I refuse to countenance the idea of the town’s office staff banging away on typewriters in the year 2006 – then they are still available.

“Even if people think the file has been deleted by mistake, the document is still recoverable. I am not accusing anyone of wrongdoing in this matter. But it is just crazy to suggest the minutes have gone missing off a computer,” Mr Brady said.

Councillor Brady added that he was in favour of the new development, but remained opposed to building on the Dargle flood plain, which town planners Brady, Shipman and Martin also recommended against in a 1998 report commissioned by the local authority.

“ All I want to see is the floodplain protected as a buffer against flooding. The plan calls for 18 acres of playing fields. Myself and residents of Little Bray just want those fields beside the river where they will act as a safety value during high tides in wet Novembers. We’re not talking about moving heaven and earth. Both sides can be accommodated,” said the Sinn Féin councillor.

Daily Ireland 25 may 2006