An Taisce has warned that a proposed amendment to the Wicklow County Council Development Plan is a potential infringement of European law. The conservation body has written to the council to point out that a lifting of the ban on tourist accommodation in protected wildlife areas is, it claims, "a serious threat to protected wildlife areas and landscapes".

An Taisce has urged the Council to reject the proposed Variation which would remove the prohibition on guest-house and country house hotel developments in all Landscape Zones. Previously such developments had not been permitted in Outstanding Natural Beauty Zones, Special Amenity Zones and Coastal Zones. "Because these zones include areas designated under the Habitats Directive as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and under the EU Birds Directive as Special Protection Areas (SPAs), the Variation is an infringement of these directives" said a spokesman.

A judgement in the European Commission case against Ireland on the Habitats Directive is expected from the European Court next month and An Taisce has insisted that if the Wicklow proposal is adopted by councillors, it will request the European Commission to examine it. An Taisce says the variation will also contravene the Wildlife Act. The spokesman said it was also considered that the proposed variation will contribute to the increasing trend for scattered one-off developments in the countryside "which are having serious negative impacts on areas that provide amenity and tourism resources."

An Taisce has urged the elected members of Wicklow County Council to reject the proposal "and to retain the protection for all these landscape zones as currently stated in the 1999 County Wicklow Development Plan in the interests of conservation and tourism."