De Burca welcomes new Local Area Plan for Marlton Rd, Wicklow Town
Green Party councillor on Wicklow County Council, Deirdre de Burca, has welcomed the new Draft Local Area plan for the Marlton Rd, Wicklow Town. The Draft plan will be discussed and amended by councillors at their meeting on Monday 13th February and will then go out on public display in March.
“I am very pleased with the overall design of this plan,” says de Burca. “We are all aware that Wicklow Town, as one of the county’s Growth Centres, will have to cater for a much higher population over the next ten years or so. However, we have to make sure that new development in the town reflects good planning and brings with it some badly needed community facilities”.
Cllr de Burca points out that the Draft Local Area Plan for Marlton includes 5 acres for educational purposes. The Green Party councillor has also submitted an amendment to the plan to have a “substantial Arts Centre, including an access cinema and all-weather playing pitches” included in the development.
Cllr de Burca has expressed her concern about the design of individual houses in the development also. “We must move with the times and recognise how important good insulation and energy efficiency in buildings will be for the future with electricity and gas bills likely to rise dramatically” she says. The Green councillor has put down a motion that will require all new buildings in the development to meet the minimum low-energy performance standards as a condition of getting planning permission.
De Burca has also proposed that the development should utilise renewable energy supply systems to meet at least 30% of the space and water heating requirements of the new homes. “These features will make these homes a lot more valuable for those who buy them” she says. “In the future a home that is not energy efficient and which relies completely on oil or gas will be very hard to sell”.
The Green councillor has also called for the new houses to be designed flexibly so that it will be easy for the owners to convert to wood pellet burners or other alternative heating systems in the future, should the owners wish to. She has also called for adequate facilities to be included in every house for the storage of dry recyclable materials.
