Radical transformation of Arklow's urban fabric proposed in pilot programme to clean up main streets

By Hugh O'Farrell Walsh, The Wicklow People

For decades, the visual aesthetic of Arklow’s historic core has been a point of contention.

From the criticism of national heritage bodies like An Taisce to the daily frustrations of local business owners, navigating a landscape of overhead wires and mismatched street furniture, the town has long felt like a diamond in the rough.

However, a new proposal brought before Wicklow County Council by Cllr Sylvester Bourke is aiming to polish that diamond, proposing a radical transformation of the town's urban fabric.

The motion, which sparked intense discussion in the council chamber this month, calls for a multi-million-euro investment in undergrounding utility cables, unifying public lighting, and incentivising the removal of heavy metal shutters from retail premises.

While the vision is often cited as a key missing piece of Arklow’s regeneration, the council’s executive response has highlighted that the path to a more picturesque Main Street is paved with high costs and significant engineering hurdles.

Implementing these works would require extensive road closures and night-time excavations on critical arteries like Bridge Street and South Quay.

The council is already under mounting pressure to coordinate any cabling work with the Arklow Flood Relief Scheme to avoid digging twice. The flood scheme already involves lowering the floor of Arklow Bridge by 1m and extensive dredging, which overlaps with the proposed utility relocation areas.

The council's priority remains clearing a backlog of more than 3,100 faults across the district. Only after functional repairs are completed can they technically assess the feasibility of full aesthetic unification

At the heart of Cllr Bourke’s proposal (which gained support from Cllr Peter Stapleton) is a desire to see Wicklow’s towns, starting with Arklow, emulate the success of projects like Carrick-on-Suir. The Tipperary town recently utilised the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) to strip away decades of visual clutter, moving ESB and telecommunications cabling beneath the pavement and restoring the historic lines of its streetscape.

Cllr Bourke argued during the motion’s introduction that Arklow should be the pilot for this project as the town has been singled out for criticism by An Taisce for its vacancy and the perceived dereliction of its urban landscape.

“There is a lot of work to be done, and it would be a shame if it wasn't prioritised and kept high on the agenda so that we can finally have a town that we can be really proud of.”

The proposal specifically targets three areas: Arklow’s Main Street, Ferrybank, and Wexford Road. By undergrounding the utilities, the motion seeks to eliminate the overhead wires that many residents feel give the town an industrial, unkempt appearance.

Furthermore, the motion cites page 190 of the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht’s Architectural Heritage Protection document, which recommends the removal of exterior metal shutters in favour of internal open-mesh alternatives or toughened glass, aiming to end the “fortress-like" atmosphere of the town after 6pm.

Perhaps the most visible part of the plan involves the unification of public lighting. Currently, Arklow’s streetscape is a patchwork of styles from modern LED heads to aging decorative heritage lanterns.

The heritage lanterns on Main Street are particularly problematic. Because they are specialised units, they cannot be repaired quickly and require long lead times for parts or full replacement with LED heads.

Cllr Bourke’s motion demands a more unified look: removing redundant attachments, matching fixtures, and painting all stands in a single uniform colour, such as black or grey. He also wants lighting to be “climate sensitive”.

The council’s written response revealed that heritage lamps in Wicklow were originally intended to be upgraded under the Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project.

Yet, when the project reached the implementation phase, these decorative units were essentially removed from the contract, because the technical requirements for retrofitting them proved too "problematic”.

In an official response, the council stated: "The priority for staff remains the repair of faulty lighting in a timely manner. Arklow Main Street, for example, required existing lighting faults to be repaired simply to assess the extent of the follow-up required to restore the heritage vista."

For some councillors, this approach is preferred. Cllr Pat Fitzgerald has been vocal about the "disgraceful" state of outages, noting that while unification is a noble goal, the current priority must be basic safety.

"It’s a serious accident waiting to happen," Cllr Fitzgerald remarked in a recent district meeting. "We have black spots on Main Street that make people afraid to walk the dogs or go to the shops at night."

The council executive has not minced words regarding the financial implications of the proposal. Initial estimates suggest that a full undergrounding of cables and a complete overhaul of the lighting infrastructure in Arklow alone could "easily run into the millions”.

The executive's formal response noted that such works are "very disruptive and very expensive". Beyond the price tag, the logistics of digging up Main Street presents a nightmare for local commerce.

The motion has not been rejected, but it has been referred to both the Planning and Economic Strategic Policy Committees (SPCs) for consideration in the 2026 multi-annual work programmes.

The next steps will fall largely on the shoulders of the Arklow Town Team, which local councillor Miriam Murphy thinks is too tall an order. She told the meeting that she feels a project of this nature is too big for any singular town team.

This group, comprised of local stakeholders and officials, is tasked with exploring funding streams like the Town Centre First initiative. If a viable project emerges, the council has pledged to progress it through future funding calls.

To bridge the significant gap between vision and reality, officials are currently utilising grants awarded in February 2026 to reach what is called ‘Category 1 readiness’ – the rigorous shovel-ready status required to secure the large-scale capital investment (up to €10 million) seen in successful benchmarks like Carrick-on-Suir.

With the next major RRDF Category 1 application deadline set for July 28, the SPCs have their work cut out for them to ensure its inclusion in the 2026 multi-annual work programmes.

In the meantime, council chief executive Emer O’Gorman told Cllr Bourke at the county council meeting this month that she could help with improving aesthetics of shuttering on businesses.

After hearing the council’s response on his motion, Cllr Bourke had spoken about a lack of enforcement for incorrect shuttering.

He said: “It came up at the town meeting a lot that we have failed to enforce many of our planning regulations with regard to shuttering on commercial premises, that in many places shuttering was put in place without planning permission, and it is something I wanted to highlight to management that it's something that we should be revisiting.”

Ms O’Gorman replied: "In relation to the shuttering, if there are specific instances or where there is an awareness that there is a breach of planning just let us know directly about the individual properties and we will deal with it on enforcement.

"But I take your point certainly about the unification of the lights and it is hugely important that we have an aesthetic that the town can be proud of, and we are working towards that, and happy to work with you on that.”