Balls-up!

A city councillor has asked Galway City Council to ensure that any new playgrounds or basketball courts are not located too close to residential areas – complaining that locals near one such facility are upset by “incessant, loud bouncing of basketballs”.

In a submission under the Draft Galway City Development Plan 2023-29, Cllr Terry O’Flaherty said there must be an obligation on the Council to provide such playing facilities, but there should also be an onus on the local authority to ensure they do not have an adverse effect on the quality of life of nearby residents.

She said that such facilities can also be a “magnet for antisocial behaviour”.

Cllr O’Flaherty have the example of the play facilities at Radharc na Gréine on the Monivea Road, which, she said, is very close to the houses and creating disturbances late into the night.

In her submission to City Hall, Cllr O’Flaherty wrote: “There is, without question, an obligation on Galway City Council and all local authorities to provide for the inclusion of proper playing facilities accessible by the residents, particularly children, of any residential development for which planning permission is granted.

“However, there must also be an obligation on the local planning authorities to ensure that any such recreational facilities do not have adverse effects on the quality of life which residents of any nearby homes, pre-existing or new, are entitled to enjoy.

“The Galway City Council Draft City Development Plan 2023-29 includes under ‘Indicative Examples of Recreational Facilities for Different Sizes of Residential Developments’, the provision of a skateboard facility, bowling green and basketball court in developments of 51-100 residential units.

“This was also included in the current Galway City Council Development Plan 2017-23.

“But nowhere is there any stipulation about avoiding inconvenience to people living next to such a basketball court or skateboard facility in the middle of a residential area.

“An example of the problem occurred in the Radharc na Gréine housing estate on the Monivea road, where 54 houses that were constructed for the private market were subsequently purchased by the City Council for local authority housing applicants.

“The playground is very close to the houses, but the real trouble arose with the two basketball courts, which were the cause of a lot of upset to some residents of homes close by, whose lives were negatively affected by the incessant and loud bouncing of basketballs, often late into the night, as well as accompanying loud noises,” Cllr O’Flaherty wrote.

She said it should be a condition of planning that such facilities be located away from housing.

“Recreational facilities such as basketball courts and skateboarding areas should only be located away from homes, at a sufficient distance where the inevitable noise coming from them will not have such an impact on residents.

“Such areas can also be a gathering point or magnet for anti-social behaviour

“While the ambition of the Draft Development Plan to plan properly for recreational facilities, for the younger generation in particular, is laudable, the current policy of locating noise-generating facilities too close to people’s homes will continue to cause upset to residents, resulting in a reduction in their quality of life.

“The provision in future of any such facilities must take into account their potential and likely effect on local residents, and their placing in more suitable locations,” she wrote.