Council approves new ambulance base for Galway City

Galway City Tribune – Planning permission has been granted for a new ambulance base on the grounds of Merlin Park, despite the HSE declining a Galway City Council recommendation to redesign the building.

The HSE said staff morale is suffering because of the existing temporary facilities, and that it has caused significant industrial relations issues.

The new base will replace the temporary facility which was previously declared unfit for purpose and partially moved to the grounds of University Hospital Galway.

The HSE was asked to redesign its proposals for the new base, but declined, saying it wanted to “avoid unnecessary flamboyance”. Instead, other elements such as canopies and feature walls were added.

Last April, the HSE sought permission for the new two-storey base with offices, rest rooms, shower areas, laundry rooms, quiet room and kitchen facilities on a site adjacent to the temporary base.

However, the Council told the HSE to redesign the building and make it more attractive as they found it “quite uniform in design” and added that 78 car parking spaces would be excessive and with no justification.

The building is planned to replace the existing temporary base which opened four years ago – and was only supposed to be in place for six to eight months – and has previously suffered a rat infestation and offered workers “brown and murky water” for showers.

The new base building measures 613 square metres and will have canopied parking bays for 19 ambulances. On the ground floor will be a computer room, 70 lockers, laundry room, shower rooms, open plan office, rest area, kitchenette and dining room, training equipment and major incident store. Upstairs will house offices, meeting rooms, a ‘quiet room’, ICT room and records store.

“In relation to the design/visual appearance of the proposed building, whilst it is acknowledged that the building has been designed to be a functional building, it is considered that it is quite uniform in design and does not represent the most suitable form of architectural quality,” the Council said.
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