CITY TRIBUNE
Council raises series of concerns over indoor market plans
Plans for an indoor artisan food market in the city centre have hit a stumbling block after Galway City Council warned it would not meet fire safety requirements.
A planning application to use the former Connacht Tribune printworks on Market Street as an indoor market was made last October.
However, the Council has now sought further information on a series of issues, including the future of the entire site, parking, the sale of alcohol and the number of people that would be permitted on site.
The entire Connacht Tribune building and site was sold last year to property developer Michael Maye. The newspaper business remains a tenant in the building until relocation plans are finalised.
Ortamount Ltd – part of the Mr Maye’s Headspace Group – wants to turn the former printworks into a 10,500 square foot food hall with up to 35 operators.
The company has been told by the Council that the Fire Authority said the proposals would not comply with current fire safety requirements for such a development, with particular regards to means of escape.
The applicants have been told to meet with the Fire Authority to make necessary revisions.
The Council has also sought a clear outline of the floor plan and the extent of the area which will be dedicated for the sale or consumption of alcohol.
City planners also said that 16 parking spaces will be lost on the Tribune site, and unless spaces are reserved for use, free of charge, in Market Street carpark (also owned by Mr Maye), that the carpark cannot be used to cater for the loss of the existing spaces on the Tribune site or for carparking demands of the proposed development.
“The applicant will be asked to comment on this matter and is advised as per the Galway City Development Plan, within the city centre area, where developments do not provide car parking, a transportation contribution will be levied in lieu of on-site parking spaces.
“The applicant is asked to outline the maximum numbers of persons permitted on site, as permitted under fire safety regulations. This will allow for an informed assessment with regard to the carparking demands,” the Council said.
Planners also said the development would result in the subdivision of the site into two separate commercial entities and asked the applicants to comment whether the market could potentially prejudice the future occupancy and functionality of the main Connacht Tribune building “particularly considering that both existing vehicle access points and the existing car parking spaces are to be removed”.
The Council has ordered a redesign and reduction of proposed signage over the two existing gates on either side of the Connacht Tribune building as they pose significant concerns with regards to the potential negative visual impact on the building, which is a Protected Structure.
The developers have also been asked for confirmation that the market will not be in use past 10pm and on use of amplified music, as this would have the potential to negatively impact on the residents of Bowling Green.
The applicants have until the middle of June to submit the revisions and further information to the Council, or the application will be deemed to be withdrawn.
When the planning application was lodged, the company had planned to have the new food hall up and running by March.
It has already received the backing of a number of city business representative groups – including Galway Chamber, the Galway City Business Association, the Latin Quarter, Woodquay Traders and Galway Food Festival – who said it would enhance the city’s reputation as a food destination.
Michelin star chef JP McMahon has also backed the plan on behalf of Food on the Edge.
The applicants compared their plans to Limerick’s Milk Market, Cork’s English Market and Dublin’s George’s Street arcade.
Mr Maye plans to eventually build a 208-bed hotel and food market on the site, with an overall investment of around €60m. This will form part of an entirely separate planning application in the future.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
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