€126m Port plan to be assessed under special European legislation

Galway Harbour Company will today begin to devise compensation measures it proposes to implement to offset the adverse impact its expansion plans will have on protected parts of Galway Bay.

The long-waited, delayed ruling from An Bord Pleanála was issued yesterday and it effectively gave the go-ahead to the company to submit its application for the Docks redevelopment using the IROPI (Imperative Reasons for Overriding Public Interest) element of the European Habitats Directive. The ruling means the European Commission will ultimately be the arbiter of the redevelopment planning application.

As expected, the Planning Appeals Board ruled that the planned €126 million expansion of the harbour would have an adverse impact on Galway Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The Harbour Company must now propose measures to compensate for this negative effect.

An Bord Pleanála would not be drawn on what these measures might be and said that was up to the developer to say how it will come up with compensatory measures.

For more on this story and the next steps in the project, see this week’s Galway City Tribune