Dublin People - Gormley gives Bray Head special protection order

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Gormley gives Bray Head special protection order

Monday, 24 March 2008

Special amenity status has been bestowed upon Bray Head in Co Wicklow by Environment Minister John Gormley.
The purpose of the Special Amenity Area Order is to give the head better protection and to put in place tighter controls on development.
Bray Head is one of only four special amenity areas in the country and the first to be initiated by a local authority. The move follows a 15-year campaign and now Bray joins Howth Head, Liffey Valley and Bull Island that were all previously granted similar protection by ministerial order.
Bray Town Council, in consultation with Wicklow County Council, made the application for the order to An Bord Pleanála, which approved the move recently.
In the application lodged last year the local authorities said the headland, which is some 12 miles south of Dublin city, was largely untouched by residential or commercial development, in contrast to Killiney Hill or Howth.
Much of Bray Head is in private ownership. However, in recent years it has come under increasing development pressure with local residents campaigning unsuccessfully against a housing development on educationally zoned land on the northern slopes.
The chairman of Bray Planning Policy Committee Cllr Ciaran O'Brien (GP) said the order would give Bray Head recognition as a local and nationally important amenity area.
“It will enhance the area by promoting it as an important recreational and educational resource and will ensure clear management policies for the future,” he said.
Cllr O'Brien paid tribute to the work carried out by the Bray Head Residents’ Association and the council staff of Bray and Wicklow county councils in securing the order. In addition he commended the elected members for their support.
He also urged Minister Gormley to direct Wicklow County Council to prepare two further SAAOs for the Little and Great Sugarloaf Mountains.
"The aim of these orders from an amenity point of view should be to connect the Bray and Greystones DART stations with the Wicklow Way by means of walkways and trails,” he added.
“The social, tourism and economic benefits to the surrounding areas of Kilmacanogue and Enniskerry will be enormous while ensuring that our scenic landscapes are protected.”

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