The GIVE US BACK OUR HARBOUR Committee Meeting Room | The Beach House | The Harbour | Greystones | Co Wicklow Email: gubohn@gmail.com Web: facebook.com/groups/greystones
Press release
16 May 2011
Banners up as Greystones group steps up ‘take down the hoardings’ campaign LARGE BANNERS were placed on the walls of several business premises in Greystones over the weekend as the GIVE US BACK OUR HARBOUR group steps up its campaign to have the harbour hoardings removed in time for the summer. This phase of the campaign involves mounting banners bearing the slogan “Give Us Back Our Harbour — Take Down the Hoardings” at various points in the harbour and around the town. Basil Miller, a local resident and spokesman for the group, explained that GUBOH represents a large group of residents and businesses in Greystones whose quality of life and level of business have been adversely affected by the unsightly hoardings. “The community’s quality of life has been drastically affected,” said Miller. “The appearance of the whole harbour area is ruined, hospitality businesses in the area have seen massive decline in their trade and this fall-‐off is felt throughout the town. “The approach to Greystones from the Bray Cliff Walk now has a prison-‐like appearance and the community has been cut off from the marine environment which has always been central to life in our town. “We accept that the hoardings have been necessary until now for safety reasons. However, they have been in place for three and a half years, which is a great deal longer that we were originally led to believe. Work on the site ceased about six months ago and there seems little likelihood of it recommencing in the near future. “Completion of this project is, we understand, dependent on an uplift in the housing market. Few informed commentators believe this will happen for quite a number of years. We sympathise with SISPAR’s financial difficulties but we do not believe it is acceptable for a developer to seal off a harbour and a portion of the coastline from the public for an indefinite period purely for commercial reasons.” Miller went on to stress that GUBOH is not opposing the completion of the Bord Pleanala-‐approved development.
“The harbour is now built and the issue which previously divided the town is no longer relevant. The community is united in one demand. We want our harbour and seashore back, we want the public amenity which we previously enjoyed restored to the community — and we want this done in time for the summer season. “We are also convinced that restoring this public amenity will bring some uplift to the local economy, an uplift which is badly needed in the current recession.” ENDS For more information contact Basil Miller Spokesperson 086 8182082 01 4433494
Notes for editors The GIVE US BACK OUR HARBOUR group was founded by several residents involved in discussions about the harbour project on boards.ie. It was launched with a Facebook page on Thursday 21 April. As of Monday 16 May, the page has almost 460 members, and the petition books which are available at several locations in Greystones have been signed by over 400 people. See http://facebook.com/groups/greystones The group has already had positive discussions with several Greystones Town Councillors and County Councillors with regard to the hoardings problem, and will have further discussions with a view to developing a common standpoint which can then be presented to the developers. The group entirely accepts the fact that the harbour has been built and that the Bord Pleanala-‐approved development will proceed at some time. It is not seeking to object to or delay any part of the uncompleted development. Its sole objective is is to have the new harbour immediately restored to public use as an amenity for the community of Greystones, and as part of that to have the hoardings at the site removed. These hoardings stretch for 500 metres or more and hide any view of the harbour. Photograph attached shows twin brothers David and Stephen Flynn, proprietors of The Happy Pear in Greystones, with the new GUBOH banner just before they placed it on the façade of their popular shop and restaurant. The store hosts one of the petition books asking that the hoardings to be removed. The GIVE US BACK OUR HARBOUR Committee Meeting Room | The Beach House | The Harbour | Greystones | Co Wicklow Email: gubohn@gmail.com Web: facebook.com/groups/greystones