Proposal to rezone two hundred acres of agricultural and amenity land in Leixlip for housing.
Applications now before Kildare County Council to rezone over two hundred acres of land for the development of housing.
The controversy over land rezoning has moved south of the capital to the normally peaceful town of Leixlip.
The plans propose development on five separate pieces of land in three areas including Kilmacreddock, the Rye Valley and St Catherine's. These plans are not going uncontested, 3,200 objections have been lodged supported by An Taisce and Leixlip town commissioners.
Over twenty residents associations in the area have banded together to stop them.
Residents claim that these developments would destroy natural beauty spots in the area. Professor Valentine Rice, who opposes the development, describes the Liffey Valley as a landscape of international importance which demands preservation.
The developers disagree and say that they have the support of local business for the development to go ahead. Developer Elizabeth Fingleton has accused opposition groups of putting out misleading information about the development.
Those opposing the development believe that this proposal would increase the population by six thousand people turning Leixlip into a dormitory town for Dublin. Pat O'Flaherty of Kilmacreddock Residents Association says that the plans would mean the construction of 1,550 houses in the area.
The rezonings have now become one of the most strongly contested issues in Leixlip's recent history.
A decision on the plans will be made by Kildare County Council next Monday.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 September 1994. The reporter is Paul Reynolds.
