Wicklow county councillors decided yesterday to delete a controversial zoning proposal for Delgany that many residents feared would fundamentally change the character of this designated heritage village.
Under a new local area plan for Greystones, Delgany and Kilcoole, Stilebawn House and its grounds would have been rezoned for a new “neighbourhood centre”, including a supermarket and several retail units.
Apart from the Stilebawn lands – believed to have been acquired some years ago by developer Johnny Ronan – the proposed zoning covered neighbouring properties at Priory Road as well as another on Glen Road, known as Glenowen.
According to a petition by Delgany Community Council, Nama “is now the effective owner of large land banks in Delgany-Greystones” as a result of previous rezonings – with the lands then “mortgaged as security for heavy bank borrowings”. In its petition the community council warned that the zoning change would “radically alter” the character of Delgany, saying the village “does not need a supermarket or a new shopping centre and all the associated traffic congestion”.
The petition noted that the village has vacant commercial premises and abandoned development sites.The motion to delete the rezoning proposal and revert to residential was put forward by Cllr George Jones (FG). His colleague Cllr Derek Mitchell succeeded in deleting retail from future uses for a former IDA site near Greystones.
