How Did That House Get built On Bray Head?

Thargor

It looks fairly new, anyone know how did they get planning permission to build it there? Its one of Irelands best geographic features and there's this random bungalow and yard built into the side of it. It would be all green fields otherwise. It seems like something people would have objected to.

Cool_CM

?

Annasopra

No idea but rumours abound

Judgement Day

I wouldn't be surprised by anything in Bray anymore! Any Council that sanctions housing developments like the (Briar Wood) abomination are capable of anything.

orchidsrpretty

Isn't it a working farm? So maybe it has been there for many years?

mathproblem

The Eagles Nest that place is known locally as - been there donkeys years. Has expanded quite a bit recently though. Construction vehicles up and down quite alot, mostly farm buildings i think. There used to be a coffee shop or something in there back in the days when the gondola was still running, the lazier tourist could look at the views from where those railings are rather than continue right to the top.

There is a preservation order of sorts on the head since the housing estate pictured above ^^ raised alot of fears and some of the residents associations nearby try to pressure the council and others to tighten the lock on it.

The fear is that when the moneymen are ready to roll on some developments again their political friends will suddenly unveil that the preservation stuff isn't so tightly bedded down as previously thought.

There was major plans for serious apartment building around the beachfront facing side of the head at one stage iirc. Starting around Dawsons/The Star i think, more beside the head than on it i suppose.

.243

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

Isn't it a working farm? So maybe it has been there for many years?

its a working farm alright,the construction machines go up there for safe storage

cllrmcmanus

Judgement Day wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised by anything in Bray anymore! Any Council that sanctions housing developments like the (Briar Wood) abomination are capable of anything.

Just a quick note. Briar Wood was definitely not sanctioned by the council.
It was oppposed by the officials, the town engineer and most of the councillors at the time.

It was granted permission by An Bord Pleanala following an appeal.

Maudi

cllrmcmanus wrote: »

Just a quick note. Briar Wood was definitely not sanctioned by the council.
It was oppposed by the officials, the town engineer and most of the councillors at the time.

It was granted permission by An Bord Pleanala following an appeal.

and wasnt ther some talk of a new road to run parallel with the wine gates road then to plough cross country to service that monsterous harbour in greystones..bray head will end up being built on .all it takes i.m.o. is the auld brown envelopes councellors love em.

tennisplayer

"BY Judgement Day I wouldn't be surprised by anything in Bray anymore! Any Council that sanctions housing developments like the (Briar Wood) abomination are capable of anything. "

Totally incorrect, get the facts right before posting please

Judgement Day

tennisplayer wrote: »

"BY Judgement Day I wouldn't be surprised by anything in Bray anymore! Any Council that sanctions housing developments like the (Briar Wood) abomination are capable of anything. "

Totally incorrect, get the facts right before posting please

How, pray tell, do you expect someone who no longer lives in Bray to know that it was Bord Pleannala that gave the go-ahead for the houses over the heads of the Town Council? Anyway, the fact remains that the Town Council have for decades presided over the gradual run-down of the town.

cllrmcmanus

Maudi wrote: »

and wasnt ther some talk of a new road to run parallel with the wine gates road then to plough cross country to service that monsterous harbour in greystones..bray head will end up being built on .all it takes i.m.o. is the auld brown envelopes councellors love em.

There was "talk" of that alright. It never came to the council for discussion or for a decision.

And you will be glad to hear that it won't happen, especially since, due to the hard work of many residents and some of our much-maligned councillors & council officials, Bray Head is now a protected area under Irish and EU law.

Judgement Day

cllrmcmanus wrote: »

There was "talk" of that alright. It never came to the council for discussion or for a decision.

And you will be glad to hear that it won't happen, especially since, due to the hard work of many residents and some of our much-maligned councillors & council officials, Bray Head is now a protected area under Irish and EU law.

Glad to hear it but horses and stable doors comes to mind. I shall drag myself up Bray Head for old time's sake one of these days and post my findings here.

Incidentally, any chance that you could do something about removing the gun emplacements on the seafront - they might look more at home in Normandy.



Pic lifted from a post by squareballoon here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=74811451

Maudi

cllrmcmanus wrote: »

There was "talk" of that alright. It never came to the council for discussion or for a decision.

And you will be glad to hear that it won't happen, especially since, due to the hard work of many residents and some of our much-maligned councillors & council officials, Bray Head is now a protected area under Irish and EU law.

or is the op talking bout the modern house behind the golf club?you can see it on google.how the heck did that get pp if the area is protected?

Rinker

Judgement Day wrote: »

Incidentally, any chance that you could do something about removing the gun emplacements on the seafront - they might look more at home in Normandy.



Pic lifted from a post by squareballoon here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=74811451

Really? Whats your problem with them? They're a really unique feature, they look great and they're really well used too. I remember running round them and sliding down the sides as a kid. Now my children bring their little trikes there and love rolling down the slope. They're very popular with the skater kids too.:cool:

Calibos

Judgement Day wrote: »

Glad to hear it but horses and stable doors comes to mind. I shall drag myself up Bray Head for old time's sake one of these days and post my findings here.

Incidentally, any chance that you could do something about removing the gun emplacements on the seafront - they might look more at home in Normandy.



Pic lifted from a post by squareballoon here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=74811451

There is a lot I'd change about the seafront but those aren't on my list

Hand on heart, if I won Dolores McNamara Euromillions kind of money, I'd be paying for the modern lights to be removed and Victorian style lights all along the prom and strand road side as well as re-instating the Wooden seats and cast iron seatbacks the length the of the prom. I'd also buy up all the derelict sites on strand road and make those people who refuse or cannot afford to maintain their properties an offer they cannot refuse. As for the Gun emplacements. Put a roof on them like the bandstand and jobs a goodin' Oh yeah, while I'm at it, a new chairlift up the head, buy the BrayHead Hotel off Jonnie and refurbish it, detonate a few tonnes of TNT under Dawsons and last but not least, remove the shutters and reclad in granite like the boathouse, the coucil storage area on the southern toilet block. I's also either buy out Players amusements or force the feckers to block off and rerender the shopfronts they extended the inside of the amusements into. Makes albert avenue look like a business no go area with all the permanently closed shutters when actually there are some thriving businesses down there.

Whats mad about that kind of money and the price of sites and property right now is I could do all that and still have 60 or 70 million left at least!!! Even after my 2 week holiday to the International Space Station I'd still have 50 million left. My charity to my hometown with the above and donations to local charities is what would make me feel not in the slightest bit guilty about spending about 15 million on a 2 week holiday

cllrmcmanus

Judgement Day wrote: »

Incidentally, any chance that you could do something about removing the gun emplacements on the seafront - they might look more at home in Normandy.



Pic lifted from a post by squareballoon here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=74811451

I always liked the shelters on the seafront. Sure, they arent "authentic Victorian", but they are unique looking.

squareballoon obviously felt they had some aesthetic merit too.

cllrmcmanus

cllrmcmanus wrote: »

There was "talk" of that alright. It never came to the council for discussion or for a decision.

And you will be glad to hear that it won't happen, especially since, due to the hard work of many residents and some of our much-maligned councillors & council officials, Bray Head is now a protected area under Irish and EU law.

Judgement Day wrote: »

Glad to hear it but horses and stable doors comes to mind.

As the discussion, in this case, was on the "Road over Bray Head" the horse had not bolted before the stable door was shut.

Judgement Day

I wouldn't mind betting if a proper survey of residents was done, that the removal of the gun emplacements and ghastly modern lighting on the prom would win approval. The fact that one poster here likes them doesn't mean that they are wonderful. However, their removal or a survey isn't going to happen is it? I'm sorry to see the state that Bray is in and I'm glad to be out of it permanently.

PS Councillor McManus - any chance that you could have the graffiti removed from the treatment plant at the Dargle bridge and the adjacent walls?

Alun

Interesting. I never actually knew they were gun emplacements, but if they were, then assuming they were built properly, they're not going to be easy to get rid of.

Also, putting my head on the block here, but I actually quite like the new lights. I wasn't keen on them when they were put up first, but the wood has weathered nicely now, and I think they're OK. The design of the actual light units makes for a better light coverage, and cuts down on light pollution too. Don't forget that traditional cast iron lights, although they might look prettier would need lots of maintenance, i.e. painting on a regular basis to protect them from the elements.

Judgement Day

They weren't really gun emplacements - just me being OTT but if Spielberg ever makes another WWII blockbuster Bray will be well positioned for a role as a Normandy beach location.

PS I do agree that the lights have weathered well but I still feel that Bray's fortunes can be turned by recreating the Victorian/Edwardian seaside experience rather than the present mish-mash.

recedite

Just throwing out an idea here on the subject of Bray Head.....
Would it be an idea for the council to introduce a resident herd of wild ponies, something like the New Forest ponies in the UK. they would keep the gorse down, help the woodland to re-establish, and attract walking tourists. Not sure if they would escape, or be stolen though? There does seem to be a few cattle wandering around up there already at times, presumably from Kilruddery.

Alun

recedite wrote: »

Just throwing out an idea here on the subject of Bray Head.....
Would it be an idea for the council to introduce a resident herd of wild ponies, something like the New Forest ponies in the UK. they would keep the gorse down, help the woodland to re-establish, and attract walking tourists. Not sure if they would escape, or be stolen though? There does seem to be a few cattle wandering around up there already at times, presumably from Kilruddery.

There are already ponies up there, I don't know who they belong to though.

Calibos

Alun wrote: »

There are already ponies up there, I don't know who they belong to though.

recedite

Alun wrote: »

There are already ponies up there, I don't know who they belong to though.

These appear intermittently on any vacant ground in winter when the grass is in short supply on Dublin corporation housing estates, but I was thinking more of a permanently resident herd, managed at the optimum number of animals to enhance the ecosystem.

mathproblem

The horses are nearly always up there, some local travellers tend to them. I think the land there (beyond the fenceposts where there is a grill you walk over - around to the gate out to windgates) belongs to the Brabazons (Kilruddery house owners). The travellers must have an agreement with them, or else maybe they just turn a blind eye due to the fact theyve been up there so long - kind of like a right of way.

There used to be a gate where that grill is and an attempt to keep it as private grazing land (where mountain goats of some sort used to roam) but the walking traffic was probably too much and the activity such an amenity to the area, it's just become open traffic now. The goats(& the gate) were mentioned in a guidebook I read once to walking paths in Ireland.

About five years ago I actually witnessed a goat giving birth down by the lower cliff walk path, right beside the train line, and there was a daddy goat too keeping watch. I wished i'd my camera with me at the time. I couldn't understand why that was the only time I'd seen the goats though... perhaps they were just brought there towards the end of the preganacy for a safe place to give birth or something?

Sometimes it's a bit intimidating if you're walking the path as the sun is setting and the horses all move together from one end of the lands to the other for the evening and there are five or six of them coming around the paths together. With a couple of foals too often and I wonder will the dog spook one of the foals or something and upset the mother. But in the end they're well used to the people passing, it's just a bit of a sight a bunch of them taking up the path... been meaning to bring the camera for this and try capture them in a nice light in a nice formation coming around one of the corners.

Alun

I wonder, is it the travellers who live in that little enclave on the Windgates road by the new golf club there who own them?

I got caught behind 3 of them (2 adults + 1 foal) on one of the narrow gorse lined tracks leading up on to the head from the cliff path recently. They plodded along really slowly and I only managed to get past them when they got to a small clearing.

recedite

mathproblem wrote: »

There used to be a gate where that grill is and an attempt to keep it as private grazing land

Going back even further, it used to be a toll gate, and the toll collector/gatekeeper lived in the ruin there.
The traveller horses are a great breed; as tough as ponies but less temperamental. No need to worry about meeting them, although you are right in that you never know what will happen when a dog is involved. I could see how they might be intimidating to some people though, being bigger and less afraid of people than, say, the New Forest type ponies.