News
Council chief emergency powers may be used for hardstands
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- Land on the Ballymoneen Road adjacent to Maigh Búrca estate which has planning permission for 69 social housing units, Phase 1 of which (14 units) has been sanctioned for construction.
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- The site in Ballyburke on Council-owned land at the entrance to the new Colaiste na Coiribe.
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- The site at Keeraun which was purchased by the Council for €11m. Part of the site is now included in the Outer Bypass route, and part is landlocked, leaving only a small portion open for development.
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- The site behind Westside Shopping Centre which has been earmarked for a Traveller hardstand under emergency plans by Galway City Council. (PHOTO: JOE O’SHAUGHNESSY)
City Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath has said he will use his emergency powers if necessary to build two controversial new Traveller halting sites on the western side of the city next year.
One of the ‘temporary’ hardstands will be built on Council-owned land behind Westside Shopping Centre opposite the astro turf pitch, while three sites are being looked at on the Ballymoneen Road in Knocknacarra for the second hardstand.
The Knocknacarra sites are on the Upper Ballymoneen Road – the first is at Keeraun on land purchased by the Council for housing at the height of the property boom for €11 million. The site is to the right of the road (when leaving Knocknacarra) close to the T-junction.
The second site is adjacent to the Maigh Búrca estate on land where 14 social houses are to be built next year. There is planning permission on the site for a total of 69 social housing units.
Director of Services for Housing, Tom Connell, told a City Council meeting that while Phase 1 (14 homes) of that site will go ahead, a hardstand could still be built on the land which is earmarked for the other 55 homes.
The third site is at Ballyburke to the right of the access roadway to the new Coláiste na Coiribe.
At a local authority meeting on Monday, angry councillors complained there has been no consultation on the matter.
Councillor Mike Cubbard told the Galway City Tribune that the first councillors heard about the plan was when they went into the Council chamber before the meeting and saw a one-page document on their desks.
Tom Connell wrote in the document: “The capacity situation that has now developed at the Cúl Trá site cannot be allowed to continue. The site is grossly overcrowded in the extend that health and safety concerns exist and accordingly in advance it is necessary to bring forward proposals to address the current unacceptable situation.”
It is also proposed to advance plans for the development of City Council-owned lands in Oranmore.
Mr Connell told the meeting that emergency issues highlighted in the fire safety report for Cúl Trá “should have been acted on years ago” – there are 18 families in a hardstand designed for six.
“We now have to go and look at our landbanks on the Ballymoneen Road, assess the most appropriate and bring forward proposals,” he said, adding that a similar proposal will be brought forward for land adjacent to the Westside Shopping Centre.
“Emergency health and safety issues at Cúl Trá have to be addressed. This report is to give you advance notice. There will be detailed consultations,” said Mr Connell.
Chief Executive Brendan McGrath said the matter will require “difficult and brave decisions”, but ultimately, he has the power to approve the plans, regardless of councillors’ opposition.
“We’re at a point where we’re running out of options. There is a housing crisis in Galway City. Ultimately, it will require difficult and brave decisions.
“I have the powers. That’s not the way I want to do business, but if I have to, I will. Whatever solutions are ultimately proposed, somebody won’t like them.
“I don’t want to have to use the emergency powers vested in me. I’m not one bit afraid to act, I will invoke those powers, but I would rather work with yourselves,” Mr McGrath told councillors.
Reacting at the meeting, Cllr Billy Cameron said he could not carry on in any debate on the matter because no maps of sites had been provided to councillors.
Cllr Donal Lyons said that in previous consultations, there was never any mention of a hardstand for the Ballymoneen Road, it was always “Traveller-specific group housing”.
“The consultation process is a sham. By opening further hardstands, we’re kicking the can down the road. Cúl Trá was supposed to be the solution.
“There are nearly 5,000 on the housing waiting list in the city. Social housing should be built on all Council land and Travellers should be accommodated in social housing.
“These [Keeraun] lands cost €11 million initially. Now part of the land will be taken by the N6 (new outer bypass) and part is landlocked, so you’re left with a very small area of land. For €11m.
“There has been no consultation with local residents, there are no maps here. It’s not good enough,” said Cllr Lyons.
Cllr Mike Cubbard said the crisis at Cúl Trá needed to be dealt with, but at public consultations and meetings with local area councillors, there was never any mention about the Westside area.
He said that six weeks ago, he asked Mr Connell if there were any plans for that site and he was told there weren’t.
“This won’t happen on the Westside site on my watch,” he said.
Cllr Padraig Conneely said: “The [Keeraun site] land at Ballymoneen cost €11m and now you want to put a temporary hardstand on it. I could not agree to that. You dropped this bombshell on us tonight in a one-page letter,” he said.
Cllr Niall McNelis said the matter was being pushed through very quickly, and queried what constituted ‘temporary’.
“The temporary site on the Curraghline is there six years – that’s not temporary to me,” he said.
Cllr Peter Keane queried if the Diocese wanted its land in Lower Salthill back.
Mr Connell replied that the Diocese had written to the Council, advising the 25-year lease on the Cúl Trá land is due to end in March 2019, and that the Council is not in compliance with terms of the lease, and how it proposes to ensure compliance.
He said the Council has replied to the Diocese advising it is aware of the issues and has asked for a meeting.
Cllr Cameron asked: “How can I or any other person put faith in the Director if this is the way he behaves? We’re not given the truth at committee meetings. It will be hard for me to attend them anymore. They need to be in public and transparent. Let us have openness and honesty which we’re not getting here.”
Mr Connell replied: “I don’t want it said that I treat members in a disrespectful way. There are serious health and safety issues at a site and I’m trying to look at solutions. We’re looking at an emergency situation – all sites have to be on the agenda.”
The matter will be discussed again at the next Council meeting on January 9.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
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.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
