Wicklow County Council has advertised for a private sector partner to design and build a new waste water treatment plant in a move which could at least double the population of Wicklow town and its environs.
The advertisement on the Government's e-tendering website gives a deadline of August 2nd next for tenders for the new plant as well as two catchment stations that would have a "population equivalent" of 34,000 people.
By comparison the €26 million Greystones plant installed in recent years has a capacity for a population equivalent of about 27,000 people. The current population of Wicklow town is about 10,000.
Population equivalent is not the same as population as it provides for light industry, restaurants, hotels, pubs and public facilities.
A population equivalent of 34,000 people would equate to a domestic population of about 25,000.
As part of its Wicklow town and environs development plan, the council approved significant expansion of the town to encompass nearby Rathnew and surrounding areas.
However, Fine Gael Cllr Derek Mitchell told The Irish Times a "significant opportunity to concentrate on development of the waterside area of Wicklow town was being missed".
Cllr Mitchell said the town has attributes similar to those of Kinsale and could become the "Kinsale of the east coast" if the council concentrated on the seashore, harbour and river Vartry.
Such a move would require the co-operation of Wicklow Town Council which administers the core area of the town.
Cllr Mitchell believes the council's environs and development plans could have been designed to focus on the waterfront.
"What the council is doing in advertising for a tender for the wastewater plant is just carrying out the objectives of the county development plan." He said a significant opportunity to concentrate on waterfront amenities was being lost.
"To be fair the development is designed to attract industry as well so that people can work and live in Wicklow without commuting but I am afraid you will see housing coming out over the hills.
"There hasn't been any real debate about what could be developed with the harbour, the river and the nearby beaches," he said.
A spokeswoman for the council confirmed the tendering process and said the waste water treatment plants usually provided capacity for long-term development, in some cases for 25 years.
