Developer’s second bid to build over 200 new homes

Galway City Tribune – The developer behind a proposal to construct more than 200 new homes in Oranmore – rejected last year because of the presence of a protected species of goose – has re-applied to An Bord Pleanála to approve the scheme.

Arlum Ltd, which is owned by Padraic Rhatigan of JJ Rhatigan, has resubmitted the application for 212 homes on the 21.5-acre site at Moneyduff and Oranhill, Oranmore under Strategic Housing Development legislation.

Last October, An Bord Pleanála rejected a similar application on environmental grounds – that a nearby site was possibly used by the protected Greenland White-fronted Goose and ruled the development would contravene the conservation and preservation of European designated environmental sites and species of interest.

The latest application includes monthly bird surveys from October to March, and there were no records of such species either on the site or surrounding areas.

“The purpose of the monthly winter bird surveys to demonstrate beyond reasonable scientific doubt, that the site of the proposed development and areas immediately surrounding it do not provide suitable habitat and are not used by Greenland white-fronted goose.

“The surveys also demonstrate that the site and surrounding fen is not significantly used by any of the bird species that are among the qualifying interests of the Inner Galway Bay SPA (Special Protection Area) either and that no adverse effects on any of these designated sites are predicted,” the new application reads.

A spokesperson for Arlum said: “The application has been amended to deal with the refusal reasons by the inclusion of additional Ecological Surveys and Scientific Data.”
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