Kellys’ Drummin Dreams Down The Drain?

The blocked off path…

t’s a development over on Drummin Lane that has had the locals up in arms, and it would seem the battle to preserve this natural beauty spot has been won.

After a year and half of back and forth – and the occasional surreal press release – Kelly Drain Maintenance Services Ltd have had their planning permission to install washing facilities refused by Wicklow County Council.

The objections to the development came from quite a few quarters. The residents of Drummin Lane – which links Glen Of the Downs to Farrankelly – expressed concern about the possible contamination of the stream that serves as their water supply. Submissions were also made by the Delgany Community Council, Kilcoole Walkways, Cllr Derek Mitchell, The Priestnewtown Residents Association, Kilcoole Tidy Towns, Mountaineering Ireland and An Oige.

The issue of the ancient Mass Path being suddenly blocked by the new Kelly Drain site was objected to as well, with Wicklow County Council ruling in June of this year that the padlocked gates and 2.4m high metal fences had to be removed. The August 3rd deadline for Kelly Drain to do so came and went though.

The most recent application from Kelly Drain was for the construction of a two-storey office building, the change of use of an existing farm building for the maintenance of trucks, the extension of an existing yard for the parking of trucks, ancillary site development – including a truck wash bay, boundary fencing and the change of the farmyard complex for use as a commercial vehicular depot. The plans also included the installation of an onsite waste water treatment system and a bored well water supply.

Citing the need to maintain access to the Mass Path in a safe and unobstructed manner, the council stated, ‘To allow the proposed development would result in the haphazard and piecemeal development of the site and would be contrary to objectives to facilitate safe access to and protect the amenity of the Mass Path’.

Kelly Drain Maintenance Services Ltd now have just a few weeks to appeal the council’s decision to refuse permission for the development.

You can check out our September 2017 interview with Kilcoole Walkways’ Aidan Smith at the blocked Mass Path here.