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MEATH CHRONICLE ARTICLE - July 8th

MORE than 1.500 letters objecting to proposals to rezone part of the green belt outside Dunboyne village were handed into Meath County Council’s planning offices by members of the Dunboyne Combined Residents’ Association last Thursday .

More than 1,500 residents of the village of Dunboyne have written to the Council, protesting at "the proposed destruction of the green belt". They have also called for Dunboyne Castle and grounds to be developed as a public park for amenity, tourist, community and leisure purposes.

Mr. Jim McGrath, chairman of the DCRA, said the six public representatives from the area now know the will of the people of Dunboyne. "DCRA has made an informed and convincing case. The residents of the village have clearly spoken. It is now up to our six representatives to show that democracy works," he said.

Meanwhile, the residents have also made a detailed submission on the Draft Development Plan for the area in which they outline why the green belt must be retained and in which they expressed the residents’ views on a number of other planning issues.

In their submission, the association cites 22 reasons for retaining the green belt as it is and say that rezoning would irretrievably destroy the village’s identity, permanently damage the landscape, bring about a deterioration in the quality of life of the people, destroy traditional community life, increase traffic congestion and ignore the will of the people.

The submission also expressed the residents' opposition to the zoning of 25 acres north of Clonee to industrial as it lies within the same green belt area.

Other points in the submission include a call for the development of the castle and lands, the footpath on the Rooske Road to Rooske Cemetery.

They also suggest the provision of a heritage centre on the Rooske Road-Station Road Junction, which was the site of a listed building destroyed by fire.