CITY TRIBUNE
Fresh attempt to build homes on former golf course
Plans to develop housing on the former Rosshill Par 3 golf course have been resurrected – with developers lodging an application to construct 102 units on the site.
A previous application to develop 342 units by Alber Developments – owned by the family of developer Bernard Duffy – was refused by An Bord Pleanála after it was branded a ‘substandard’ form of development on the site. The lands are owned by the Comer Group.
However, a new Strategic Housing Development (SHD) application has been made to the Board – used to fast track proposals for more than 100 residential units by submitting applications directly to An Bord Pleanála after consultations with local authority planners.
The Rosshill Manor development has been broken into a phased development, with the first phase currently under consideration by the Board.
Proposed is the development of 11 one-bed apartments; 24 two-bed apartments; 11 four-bed houses; and 56 three bed-houses.
Provision is made for a childcare facility on site, over two stories with outdoor play areas and car parking (14 spaces). Retail and commercial space is also included.
Each housing unit is to be provided with two car parking spaces, amounting to 130 in total, with a further 134 bicycle parking spaces.
For each apartment, there would be one car parking space, with one visitor car space for every four apartments, giving a total of 43 spaces. One bicycle space per apartment bedroom, with a visitor space for every two apartments amounts to 77 in total.
The planning application also commits to access and junction improvements at Rosshill Road and Rosshill Stud Farm Road, with the provision of a footpath connectivity link along both routes.
The previous plan, submitted in January 2020, was met with huge opposition from locals who said at the time that the area was ill-equipped to deal with a development of such magnitude given the lack of public transport in the area and the fact that it was still a largely agricultural part of the city.
They also stated that due to the regular movement of cattle on the road, and the use of Rosshill as a rat-run for car traffic coming into the city via Oranmore, the area was a regular blackspot for congestion likely to be worsened by such a development.
In its response to the previous application, An Bord Pleanála stated that there was a lack of sewerage infrastructure in the area to service the proposed development and that, based on the information provided, they could not be satisfied that the scheme would not have a negative impact on the nearby Galway Bay Special Protection Area.
In this new application, Alber state that the Merlin Park pumping station has capacity to deal with the wastewater requirements, adding that Irish Water has “confirmed that sufficient capacity is available currently to cater for the proposed development of 102 no. units plus one no. creche”.
Because of the proximity of the proposed development to both the Galway Bay Complex Special Area of Conservation and the Inner Galway Bay Special Protection Area, an Environmental Impact Assessment is included as part of the application.
The developer submitted: “It can be objectively concluded that the proposed project, individually or in combination with other plans or projects, will not adversely affect the integrity of any European site.”
An Bord Pleanála is due to give its decision by October 28. The full planning application is available to view at on the Rosshill Manor website.
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.
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
