Wicklow County Council has said it may reassess the size of a development "buffer zone", at Glen Ding near Blessington, after it was accused of "misrepresentation" over its plans to zone large tracts of the hillside for quarrying.
On Friday last the council insisted zoning proposals contained in the proposed Blessington Local Area Plan (LAP) were aimed at designating Glen Ding Woods as "an area of special heritage importance".
Such a move would be in line with the hillside's status as a fortified outpost for Mac Torcaill, the last Viking ruler of Dublin. It would also recognise a number of national monuments and significant Bronze Age finds on the wooded hill.
However, critics of the plan have insisted that the area now called "Glen Ding Woods" and proposed for "special heritage importance" is a "just a horseshoe around the edge of Glen Ding" while the interior of the "horseshoe", the remainder of Glen Ding itself, is proposed for zoning for uses commensurate with "extractive industries".
The critics of the plan - members of the Blessington Heritage Trust, An Taisce, the Blessington Forum and some county councillors - point out that the proposed zonings are clearly evident in map two of the council's LAP.
According to Mr Frank Corcoran of An Taisce, the proposal to zone much of Glen Ding for quarrying - council maps do not specify the acreage involved and Mr Sean Quirke of the council's planning department was not able to identify the acreages involved yesterday - is "the same proposal which was overturned by the High Court in 1998".
In fact there were a number of High Court cases in the mid to late 1990s in relation to Glen Ding. The first of these was taken against Roadstone's then quarrying operation in Glen Ding which led to an order of the High Court in 1994 that the company's activities were not exempt and it would require planning permission.
Wicklow County Council then zoned the lands for quarrying in 1996 and granted planning permission to Roadstone in 1997. The planning permission was overturned by An Bord Pleanála and the zoning was overturned by the High Court.
The Irish Times faxed a list of questions to Wicklow County Council, by agreement, on Friday last, relating to the proportions of Glen Ding which the Blessington LAP proposes to zone for protection or for extractive industries. The council had not replied to these questions last night. Speaking to the newspaper yesterday, however, Mr Quirke said the issues raised had been reflected by locals at public meetings and the council was therefore considering increasing the size of a "buffer zone" around the woods.
A spokesman for Roadstone said yesterday the company had not asked for the zoning of its land. Local TDs Ms Liz McManus and Mr Dick Roche have expressed concern at the rezoning.
