Delivering a sustainable volume of housing developments in Wicklow

Wicklow has always proved itself a cut above other counties in Leinster for its stunning scenery, lakes and heritage. Over the past twenty years, the continuous urban sprawl in Dublin has been rolling towards Wicklow and with a recent surge in planning permissions, it will make North Wicklow the new Dublin suburb.

Of course, I welcome new housing, but I think we need to emulate the great cities of the world to put a hard-stop to over development and under-utilisation of residential land in urban areas. In the UK, they’ve introduced a green belt policy for controlling urban growth. The idea is for a ring of countryside where urbanisation will be resisted, maintaining an area where agriculture, forestry and outdoor leisure can be expected to prevail. Is this not exactly what we need?

I believe this green belt will make local authorities in Dublin think harder about their housing policies and the need to build up rather than countless housing estates of semi-detached homes. It will allow us in Wicklow to protect our countryside and scenery while at the same time delivering a more sustainable volume of housing developments.

I believe a green belt will allow us to play up our environmental strengths and deliver niche tourism offerings like new greenways, distillery tourism and Powerscourt and many more.