I welcome the Minister. This matter calls on the Minister for the Marine to abandon the existing plans for a marina at Greystones, County Wicklow. Great mystery and delay surrounds these plans which have puzzled the people of Greystones. The main objection to the marina is that it is being imposed on the people of Greystones without consultation.
One of the extraordinary things about politics in Ireland is that large superstructures are imposed on communities without consultation. They have little say about their shape and they have no say about the final product. Greystones is a prime example of this at present. The lack of information is insulting to the people there. There was one consultative meeting on 18 February where the people of Greystones received sparse information about something which will change the entire face of the village.
The principal objection is not that the harbour should not be developed — something should be done about it — but the scale of the project which is being imposed without consultation. The scale of the marina is massive, involving the building of approximately 712 units. It is a major development and the local community should be consulted. It will not only change the shape and structure of the village but its purpose and trading patterns. It will also change the number of visitors to the village and the direction from which they come.
The project involves a 300 berth marina and the current estimate is that only 15 members of the Greystones community would use it. The marina will be used by 285 boats from outside the area, but the people of Greystones have as yet had no say in whether they want this facility. The county council appears determined to go ahead with the plans and to negotiate with the businessman who wants it to proceed. However, the community should not be destroyed or devastated by commerce without it being the subject of detailed consultation. The project will involve large scale rezoning of land from residential to amenity use.
The Minister may be interested to know that an extensive leaflet campaign has been carried out in Greystones by the Greystones Protection and Development Association. It received a 90 per cent response rate, so great is the feeling among the residents that they have a right to consultation and an input. The old harbour undoubtedly needs improvement. It is in an appalling condition. Nobody is denying that it is in need of renovation and rebuilding, that it should have complete public access — one of the principles upon which it should be rebuilt — and that it should have access for fishing, boating and sports and leisure facilities for the people of Greystones. However, the visual monstrosity proposed will destroy Greystones as we know it.
I am not calling for a plebiscite as local plebiscites are unsatisfactory. However, I am putting forward the case for central and local government not to run with some hare brained scheme which seems like a good idea in the abstract but which is utterly offensive to the people of the area. I am asking the Minister to abandon the present plans and go back to the people who live there — not the county council, businessmen, people who live outside the area or the sailors who will swan in and spend a day there — and say to them whatever they want will be done but that the complete transformation of their community will not be allowed without consultation.
The marina as it stands is a monstrous project in terms of scale and I ask the Minister to give a pledge to reduce it to a level acceptable to the local community.
