CITY TRIBUNE
Council’s concern over proposed Merlin Park nursing home
Plans to construct a new 60-bed Community Nursing Unit on the grounds of Merlin Park Hospital – with dining rooms, family overnight room, treatment rooms and internal courtyard – have hit a stumbling block over traffic safety and parking.
The HSE proposal on the 4.4-acre site is for 25 bedrooms (with 50 beds) and a 10-bed dementia unit, all to be located behind Unit 10 at the far end of the Merlin Park campus.
However, the City Council wrote to the HSE earlier this month and said that a Traffic Impact Assessment included with the planning application did not take Merlin Park Lane (the access point behind the hospital) into consideration.
The Council has sought a revised traffic assessment, which must also address rat-running through the hospital and how it will be controlled.
The HSE has also been told to take into account their own masterplan for Merlin Park – which includes a new 1,150-bed elective hospital and a new ambulance base – and the fact that the main access on the Old Dublin Road “is not suitable in its current format and signalisation needs to be considered”.
Clarification has also been sought on parking in general and how spaces would be managed.
According to the HSE, the reason for the proposal is the replacement of Units 5 & 6 (community care) at the hospital, as they are out of date and do not meet the current requirements of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) for patient quality.
The plans are part of a nationwide HSE proposal to deliver Community Nursing Units (CNUs) nationwide and is part of a specific bundle to construct nine units under a Public-Private Partnership programme.
“In general, a CNU is a residential care centre, providing modern in-patient accommodation and a variety of services/facilities for its residents, i.e., en suite bedrooms, family overnight rooms, communal day rooms for residents (sun rooms, activity rooms, quiet rooms), therapy rooms, hairdressing salon, pharmacy, kitchen/catering facilities and associated support, back of house and staff areas,” the application reads.
The plan involves the demolition of a carpenter’s workshop, storerooms and a former nurses’ accommodation building.
There are 91 parking spaces proposed on the site, including 28 south of Doughiska Road.
An objection on behalf of nine residents of Merlin Park Lane – the rear entry point to the hospital – pointed out that the use of the road for construction traffic would create “calamitous implications on an already catastrophic situation for residents and pedestrians”.
The objection notes that the cul de sac is a low-density residential area and was only ever intended to provide access to the hospital at designated peak times.
“The proposed development will result in the intensification of traffic flow through Merlin Park Lane which will be hazardous to residents and pedestrians alike.”
According to the application, the access gate is open 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6pm on weekdays only.
Residents added that the lane is four metres wide at a point just 100 metres from the rear gate of the hospital, and a 400-metre stretch has no footpaths or lighting.
Residents already have much difficulty in accessing and leaving their homes because of the volume of traffic, the objections said.
Rock-breaking would also “cause great upset, potential liability for residents and will interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of all residents”.
A separate objection signed by three residents of Merlin Park Lane said they were not against the development “as it seeks to deliver much-needed facilities to the greater community”, but traffic concerns had not been adequately addressed within the application process.
The objection noted that the Merlin Park Lane was not assessed as part of the Traffic Impact Assessment included with the application.
“No traffic monitoring calculations or projections for this access road are included. This is totally misleading in relation to the current traffic difficulties associated with this entrance and also the impact of the proposed development. It is strange that the closest access point to the development receives no detailed analysis whatsoever.
“The reality is that Merlin Park Lane has become a rat run for city-bound traffic in recent years. The intended restricted use for staff members of the hospital, whilst well intended, is not controlled in any way and this lack of control has resulted in the current situation. A combined analysis of traffic at both entrances would clearly evidence this,” the objection reads.
It adds that residents met with senior hospital officials on a number of occasions and a simple solution of installing an automatic managed traffic barrier was dismissed due to lack of funding.
The HSE has until October 1 to respond to the Council or the application will be deemed to be withdrawn.
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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