Angry residents in pledge to oppose site for Travellers

Any attempt to build another halting site for Travellers on the east side of the city will be resisted, Galway City Council has been warned.

Residents of Ballybane and Ballybrit have united to halt plans for a hardstand at a local authority owned site located in the old village of Ballybane.

Locals have also vowed to resist plans for Traveller-specific social housing on the land.

They have the backing of local area City Councillors, who gave commitments at a public meeting that they would oppose plans for a new Traveller hardstand in Ballybane.

Around 60 people attended a meeting to air their views about the proposal for Traveller accommodation at a site purchased by the Council last year.

The public meeting at Flannery’s Hotel was chaired by Daniel Lynch, chairperson of an umbrella group representing 16 estates in Ballybrit and Ballybane.

Representatives from Rahylin Glebe, Rockland Avenue, Monivea Park, Castlepark, Lios Caisil, Clareview Park and other areas were present at the meeting. Mr Lynch said residents had “concerns” about the plans for more Traveller accommodation in their area.

These were echoed by the chairperson of the city’s housing SPC, Declan McDonnell. “All six area councillors, from what I could see, are opposed to this. There’s a lot of anger out there about this,” he said.

His independent Council colleague agreed. “We will not support another hardstand in Ballybane; that was made clear at the meeting,” insisted City Councillor, Terry O’Flaherty.

“There are enough hardstands on the east side of the city. There needs to be better integration,” she said.

Cllr McDonnell added: “There are two big issues. That site was earmarked for a new fire station, and people want to know will the fire station go there or not. The second issue is that over 80% of the Travelling community in Galway is on the east side of the city. We want fairness. All three electoral wards in the city should take their fair share.”

Cllr McDonnell confirmed that councillors agreed to a Traveller Accommodation programme that commits to three new Traveller-specific sites. At that stage, the exact location of the sites hadn’t been earmarked.

Any plans would have to go through the Part 8 planning process and voted on by 18 elected members. Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath could overrule them if they vote against the Part 8 although that hasn’t happened before.

At the public meeting, residents wondered why the land couldn’t be used for recreation and amenity instead.

“They want to know why the Council doesn’t put a playground there. But the funding from Government is for Traveller accommodation, not for anything else,” added Cllr McDonnell.

He complained that the Council purchased the site, adjacent to existing local authority lands, without first telling City Councillors. “They went behind our backs,” he fumed.

The local authority’s Traveller Accommodation Plan identifies sites in Ballybane, Doughiska and Knocknacarra to meet the needs of the city’s Traveller population.

Council plans for a “Traveller specific group housing scheme” on land it owns at Keeraun on the Ballymoneen Road met with opposition earlier this year.