Council bids to off-load land in Knocknacarra to new agency

Date Published: 08-Jul-2010

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

Financially-crippled Galway City Council is trying to offload around 20 acres of land in Knocknacarra – on which it owes €30 million in loans – to a new Government body, the Galway City Tribune can reveal.

If the local authority manages to get rid of the land, it will save more than €1m annually in interest.

Councillors will be told at a meeting next Monday night that Director of Services for Housing Joe O’Neill has looked at its land purchases over the past seven years, and has identified three sites in Knocknacarra which have no prospect of being developed.

He now proposes to apply to the Department of the Environment to include the 19 acres in the new Land Aggregation Scheme, whereby the Government effectively takes over the sites and pays off the loans and interest.

Mayor Michael Crowe said the scheme was a ‘no lose’ situation – he fully supported the proposals, which could write €30m off the Council’s books.

“Realistically, these sites won’t be developed any time soon, and there is €30m outstanding. There is an interest bill of €1m per year, and that is significant. If we were without that obligation going into 2011, we’d be far better off.

“This is urgent. We should pass this on Monday night, and get the application in to the Department quick as we can, because you can be sure other local authorities will have sites.

“We can come back in the future and get this land back from Government and also, we have almost the equivalent amount of land left for future development,” said the Mayor.

Read more in this week’s Galway City Tribune