News
Developers warned to build or ‘pay up’
Developers ‘sitting’ on city land that is suitable for housing will be hit with hefty fines to encourage them to build.
The local authority is to be handed new powers by Government to entice developers to start building houses again.
The measure is one part of the Government’s plans to tackle the country’s housing shortage, and homelessness.
It is part of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015, which will allow Galway City Council to identify sites that could be used for housing, and with planning permission.
Galway’s planners could then slap a levy on builders and landowners who are waiting, some of them for land prices to rise, before they begin construction of homes again.
Minister of State for Housing, Paudie Coffey, said his new legislation would tackle the problem of vacant and idle land and improve housing supply in Galway.
He said the new legislation is two-pronged. First it introduces a new vacant site levy on housing or regeneration lands suitable for housing but not coming forward for development.
And it also brings into law new measures to “streamline housing delivery” including revisions to social housing and development contributions requirements.
He said it was now up to Galway City Council, “to examine their development plans from now into 2016 and identify sites that are ready to go but are not advancing and, where there are critical housing shortages, to prepare vacant sites registers and contact owners.”
The junior minister said that landowners would have time to discuss the issues with the local authority but he said the Government hoped that the threat of a financial levy “will start people thinking about getting strategically located but idle sites into more beneficial use”.
He said the new legislation will enable the City Council to retrospectively implement reductions of development charges in respect of existing but un-commenced planning permissions – improving the economics of new housing development and easing the housing shortage.
“The aim and priority of the suite of measures is to kick-start construction activity and secure social housing units on-site. To that end, the practice of developers making cash payments in lieu of social housing is discontinued under the new legislation,” added Mr Coffey.
Elsewhere, Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony, said some 87 new homes in Galway for elderly people and those with intellectual or physical disability will be provided by Government. It is part of a nationwide housing plan.
“This is fantastic news. It will directly benefit these individuals and their families and will greatly help to reduce the pressure on Galway City and County Councils.
Furthermore it will provide us with a legacy of improved housing stock for those who are unable to provide for themselves. It is extremely welcome that we will have these new dedicated social housing units to provide these supports to those who find themselves in need of housing support,” said Deputy O’Mahony.
Meanwhile, Galway West TD, Derek Nolan said the provision of funding to provide student-specific accommodation in Galway must be a priority.
“Galway is suffering from a real shortage in private rented accommodation. This shortage is made worse by a lack of suitable accommodation for third level students in the city. As a result we are seeing increasing rents and a lowering of standards across the sector.
“At present there are almost 25,000 third-level students in Galway and this number looks set to rise in the coming years. While a certain number of these students will live at home or with other family members, the majority will require student specific accommodation for the duration of their three or four year stay in Galway. It is crucial that these needs are met,” said the Labour Party TD.
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
