Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Maybe we can thrash this out later. I am still not fully clear at what level this new urban area plan is going to be and who adopts it at the end of the day.

If it is a local area plan which sits under the county development plan, it goes for only one period of public consultation and is then adopted. An environs plan is like a county plan. The variations are made and it is put on public display again. If I knew what the process was, it would probably put my mind at ease somewhat.

I return to the composition of the proposed committee. If I was elected to Bray Town Council and if I was, unfortunately, not one of the three elected to this new committee, I would have no say in how my town develops. In order for this to work, all the municipal district members should be on the committee. We can adopt county development plans with 50 councillors and there is nothing to stop us adopting this plan with the full complement of municipal district councillors. What is the point in being elected for Bray council if I end up having no say on the plan that will direct the town for the next number of years? If I was a Bray council public representative who was not on the committee, and if the plan I had adopted was superseded by this plan, in which I have no input to adopt, amend or anything else, I would feel rather left out of the whole process.