Objectors to a housing development on Bray Head, Co Wicklow, were denied access to relevant documents on which permission was granted, Dr Colm Connolly of UCD has told an Bord Pleanala.
The Democratic Left TD for Wicklow, Ms Liz McManus, told the board that the way officials at Bray Urban District Council handled the application from the developer, McInerney Construction Ltd, had created an unprecedented rift between them and elected representatives.
Both were speaking at an oral hearing in Bray yesterday on the granting of planning permission for 55 one- and two-storey houses on an 8.2-acre site adjoining St Andrew's School on Vevay Road, Bray. Ms McManus, who is also chairwoman of Save Our Head (SOHO), said local councillors had shown unprecedented unanimity in supporting the appeal against the development.
She told the board's senior inspector, Mr James Carroll, that SOHO had been formed as a community-based, non-political organisation to oppose the development and secure a Special Amenity Area Order (SAAO) for the head, so it could be taken into public ownership.
Dr Kenny said "those of us who objected to the permission were not given access to all relevant documents on which officials based their decision".
Ms McManus said there were no minute-records of meetings between Bray UDC officials and developers' representatives. Only with difficulty had councillors obtained the report by the acting chief executive planning officer for Wicklow County Council, Ms Sinead Curley, which recommended rejecting the application.
Ms Curley had been asked for a report on the initial application from McInerneys by the town engineer, Mr William Horgan. Ms Curley, replying to Ms McManus, said that, based on the available information at the time, she stood over her recommendation.
Mr Horgan said Ms Curley had been asked for a preliminary report because of the application's complexity. He said the original application for 70 dwellings, including 23 three-storey duplex apartments, had been reduced to 55 one- and two-storey houses. Another condition was that the houses have fronts of local stone and do not impinge unduly on the headland.
Representatives of many local residents' groups objected to the development on the grounds that it would damage the "visual envelope" of the headland and reduce the habitats of local wildlife, including the barn owl.
Representatives of two Irish schools appealed for the primary zoning of the land for educational use to be maintained.
A planning consultant for the Putnam/Newcourt Road residents' association, Mr Michael O'Neill, said the site was unique, and this was acknowledged by its consideration for inclusion in a pilot scheme under the EU's Sustainable Recreation New Strategy programme.
He also said the use of the site for housing was being rescinded in the new BUDC development plan. Both the BUDC and Wicklow County Council are to include it in the study area for an SAAO for Bray Head.
A consultant for the developer, Mr Bernard McHugh, accepted there was a public perception that the site was part of Bray Head, but added, "and that's all it is, a perception. A perception doesn't make reality."
He described claims that it would create a precedent to cover Bray Head in houses as "alarmist" and pointed out that the areas on Howth Head being considered for an SAAO contained large housing developments.