CITY TRIBUNE
City Council set to vote on overhaul of development levy scheme
Galway City’s third level institutes face paying development fees for the first time under new plans being considered by councillors.
Under the new Draft Development Contribution Scheme, if passed, NUIG and GMIT would have to pay development levies on the construction of any new building projects, including student accommodation.
Historically, GMIT and NUIG were exempt from local development levies but the Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, and city planners, have proposed the introduction of a charge on third level educational-related development.
The proposed new scheme for 2021-27 would also result in an increase in levies imposed on developers of non-residential developments – in some case the increased could be more than double the existing rate.
And while the new scheme would push up the price of building larger homes in Galway City, it is proposing to lower the development levy on smaller homes and apartments.
Development levies are taxes on construction collected by local councils and used to pay for public infrastructure and facilities such as transport, recreation, community, and flood relief.
At the latest City Council meeting, Emma Silke, Administrative Officer with the Planning Department, gave an overview of the new proposed new Development Contribution Scheme.
Ms Silke said the new scheme proposes a flat rate charge of €90 per square metre of residential development.
She said this would result in extra development charges on four-bedroom semi-detached houses but smaller levies on smaller homes.
Under the existing regime, residential units over 125 square metres would be levied €10,831; this would increase by €419 or 3.9% to €11,250 in the new scheme.
Residential units of between 73-125 sq m are currently levied €9,739, and this would fall by 7.6% to €9,000 under the new plan. Residential units smaller than 73 square metres currently attract a development levy of €8,639, which would fall by €2,069 or 24% to €6,570.
Development levies for non-residential range from €41-€20 per square metre; but the new scheme would introduce a flat rate charge of €50 per metre square. She said that the new scheme “includes waivers for lower intensity uses” for non-residential construction.
Ms Silke said that the lower contribution for smaller homes was to encourage “compact growth and higher densities”.
The current Development Contribution Scheme in Galway City has been in place since 2008, with a change in 2014 to take out water and waste water charges. The new scheme must consider climate mitigation measures.
It was “timely” now to revisit the charges, to coincide with the review of new City Development Plan that is underway, she said.
City Council Senior Planner Caroline Phelan said that Galway “was out of kilter” with other local authorities who do apply development levies to third level institutes.
“They do have an income,” she said, and mentioned student registration fees.
Ms Phelan added that there was no reason why student accommodation should be exempt from development levies because they’re commercial entities that charge students rents.
Ms Phelan clarified that the State’s primary and secondary schools were not levied but fee-paying schools were.
She was responding to Cllr Declan McDonnell (Ind) who said he would not be in favour of levying NUIG or GMIT. Cllr McDonnell said the levies could add €50,000 or €60,000 to the cost of a new third-level educational building.
Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) was told a waiver for third level educational could be passed by councillors but that was not the recommendation of planners as set out in the scheme.
Cllr Colette Connolly (Ind) and Owen Hanley (SD) expressed alarm at the number of exemptions contained in the new scheme.
Councillors were told that just one submission was received from the public. This was from developer Gerry Barrett, but Ms Phelan said it related to the existing scheme rather than the proposed one.
When asked why there had been such little engagement from the public, Ms Phelan said that the proposal was out on public display for eight weeks, and was advertised on the Council’s website.
Developers and construction industry representatives would usually make submissions on such changes and she posited that perhaps the reason they did not this time was because they agreed with the changes.
Councillors will discuss the matter and vote on the proposal at the next meeting.
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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