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.