Our first Wicklow County Council meeting took place today. An opportunity to welcome all the new Councillors officially to the Chamber and all the new Cathaoirligh of the various Districts. There was also an opportunity to highlight all the amazing sports people who will be representing the County in the Olympics.
Some Councillors took the opportunity to make statements relating to themselves and their views on why they had not been chosen to take the role of Cathaoirleach in their own Districts. They made statements about tradition and what they believed to be the practice when it came to selecting the Cathaoirleach in their District. These statements were reported by others in their District as being untrue and not a reflection of practice. After some members had been given plenty of time to have their say, the Cathaoirleach of the County, Cllr. Paul O’Brien requested that we move on and deal with the work of the wider community rather than individuals which was agreed, and very much welcomed.
I took the opportunity to make the following statement regarding the 2nd County Wicklow Pride Parade which takes place this weekend.
‘I wish Wicklow Pride the very best for their 2nd Pride Parade in the County this coming Saturday. I had the pleasure of attending the Pride Parade last year, the first ever in Wicklow. A historic moment for the County.
As I am sure many in this chamber are aware, the recent actions by a small number of people in the Newtownmountkennedy area has led to the cancelling of one of the planned events. This is extremely disappointing and highlights even more the need for Pride and the public expression of love and the right for all to be treated equally.
I would also highlight that the recent objections are not reflective of the whole community of Newtownmountkennedy, a location that has sadly suffered from significant negative reporting recently. It is interesting that a recent report on comments made online on X (formally Twitter) regarding activities in the area reported that 80% of all comments originated from the USA.
I would like to commend Newtown Together and the work they are undertaking, showing the other views with the community.
I look forward to attending the Pride Parade on Saturday and walking in solidarity with the community of Wicklow.’
Thank you to Cllr. Lourda Scott who also spoke on the matter.
After disposal notices, where votes are taken on land, a necessary requirement where previously owned Local Authority houses are sold, we moved onto consider a proposed resolution by the Chief Executive of Wicklow County Council.
Resolution Request
It relates to the County Development Plan, something that the Councillors adopt and which we made many decisions on in the last term. Some of the decisions we made are being challenged in the courts at present. Some other local authorities such as Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council are in a similar position.
The current legislation gives the Chief Executive the power to represent decisions in the Courts. This is defined in the Local Government Act. The Act states that the Chief Executive shall represent the views of the Councillors. The proposed resolution has been requested by a high court judge in relation to another case. It looks for a resolution which states exactly what is stated in the Act. Although it is the view of the Chief Executive that such a resolution is not required as the Act already makes the statement, this resolution is being called so that should a case relating to Wicklow County Council come up before the Courts that there is a resolution in place as it has been requested.
The Chief Executive arranged a briefing for members in advance of todays Council meeting so that we could have an opportunity to consider the detail of the request further. This was very much appreciated. It was suggested in the Chamber that this was done with some alternative intent by one member, in my view a very disappointing statement and very much intended to grab a headline. There must be an election looming!
Over the last 5-year term I have seen consistent grandstanding in the Council Chamber which serves only to raise the profile of the individual doing the grandstanding rather than work for the County and our community. It is one of the most frustrating things to watch, described privately by some of these individuals to me as ‘part of the game’, in my view an unnecessary and wholly selfish behaviour. If more people in the County had the opportunity to witness this and the impact it has on the County, I think they would be really saddened. Of course, there will be claims that it is their right to object and question, which is indeed true, but I often wonder about the sincerity on occasions. It must be exhausting to be so against everything, have a fundamental issue with everything and always assume that a major conspiracy theory is in play.
There continued a good discussion by most members, outlining different points of view both in favour and against the resolution, and asking questions about the resolution and the wider impact. This is healthy and should be the case in the chamber. Debate with different views reflected, representing respectfully all those who voted us into this chamber and providing the Chief Executive and officials to respond is important.
The Chief Executive after listening to the members queries agreed to amend the proposal and to come back to the chamber with a reviewed statement. This took place and I was happy to second the wording which was agreed by all members.
County Wicklow Skills Strategy
KPMG were engaged to develop a Skills Strategy for the County. Aoife Doyle gave a statement to the Chamber on the Strategy and how it had been developed. I will add a link to the final strategy on my website once it is published publicly in case anyone wants to view the full details.
I was delighted to launch the consultation stage during my term as Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council back in June 2023. In my opinion it is a positive step forward and focuses on four key economic sectors, namely.
Screen and Content Creation
Agri-food and Forestry
Tourism and Hospitality
Renewable Energy Industries
During the meeting I sought clarity on the how this plan was going to be monitored going forward. It’s an excellent plan but unless it is monitored and has leadership behind it, it will struggle. I requested that Wicklow County Council, the relevant Strategic Policy Committee and Wicklow Tourism have it as a standing item on their agenda and that they regularly feedback to members.
I also sought clarity on the partners KWETB, Wicklow Tourism and SETU and their confirmed commitment to the actions that have been identified for these organisations. I was advised that there was a Skills Task Force established at the outset and many of the partners were part of this Task Force and as such part of developing and feeding into the strategy.
Suspension of standing orders.
I was happy to see the request for the Council to consider the purchase of land that has become available in Bray in the Fassaroe area. I have been in discussion with the Council on this and other sites in the area, primarily for affordable housing and parklands.
However, one of the challenges of bringing this into the public chamber is that there is a risk of the site now being considered even more valuable by the sellers and the Council being priced out of its purchase. It was also suggested that the Taoiseach should purchase the site, as I noted in the Chamber, I don’t think the Taoiseach is sitting with that kind of money in his back pocket, it was assigned it may impact anther project where it might have been assigned, but we do need to look at all options to make these kind of purchases.
One of the main reasons that I have been looking at available land in the area is the reality that Bray MD (and in turn Wicklow County Council) has no public land left for development in this District. If we want to build more affordable homes for the community going forward, homes that can be purchased at an affordable rate, we need either partners or public land.
Wicklow County Council Draft Strategic Policy Committee (SPC)
Proposed structures for SPC’s were put forward, the following SPC were agreed. Each SPC looks at policy for their area and includes representatives from the sector and the community through the PPN (Public Participation Network). They are important for impacting change in particular areas.
1. Housing
2. Economic Development & Enterprise Support
3. Community and Social Development
4. Transportation Infrastructure delivery and Emergency Services
5. Climate Action, Biodiversity, Environment, Energy, Marine, Recreation and Amenity
6. Planning and Rural Development
Members will now be invited to sit on a minimum of 1 SPC each, in the last term I sat on the Housing SPC which I found extremely rewarding. It’s an area I’ve worked in for the last 20 plus years. I hope this year to contribute to different SPC’s, but this will be determined by the demand and available places.
Chief Executives Monthly Management Report
This report provided by the Chief Executive is informative and covers the activities undertaken by the local authority in the proceeding month. It’s a great way of keeping informed on all activities and issued at every monthly meeting. The report is deemed as read and Councillors are then given the opportunity to ask any questions.
I raised again the issue of ‘Out of Hours’ support services for those experiencing homelessness. This is something that we have raised on several occasions in Bray, and which has already been referred to Wicklow County Council for response as they are the housing authority. I’ve had to deal myself with people presenting as homeless to me, looking to support them and hitting brick walls, it can be very stressful for all concerned. The new Director for this area confirmed that they are developing a written protocol for this area that will be issued shortly. I will continue to monitor this.
The Council Chamber can be challenging but it is important. In the last 5-year term I committed to trying to provide regular updates on what happens in the Chamber. They will never be a fully factual report on every topic discussed but hopefully they will give some insight into what happens and what decisions are made. It is your Council, and we all represent your voices. Over the next 5-year term I will do all I can to keep up these reports and give you an overview. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries on anything I have raised.
Yours,
Aoife
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