Fresh bypass concerns voiced at Barna meeting

More than 200 signatures were gathered this week by the Barna Action Group in relation to the impact of the proposed City Bypass project on their local area.

The meeting – attended by a number of city and county councillors – heard concerns over a number of bypass issues including the demolition of 130 private properties using the CPO (compulsory purchase order) process.

According to a spokesman for the Barna Action Group, Wednesday night’s meeting gave them a mandate to make a written submission to the relevant authorities on issues of concern to them.

“We are advised by the agencies that to implement the current plan, up to 130 private properties may have to be demolished.

“There is a high probability that the vast majority of these properties – most of them family homes – would need to be compulsorily acquired under CPO.

“Given the protection afforded by the Irish Constitution to us in respect of our homes, CPOs can be given effect only as a last resort,” the Action Group said in a statement released this week.

They also ask if the agencies/authorities in charge of the bypass project have fully costed the continuation of cost benefits of tracker mortgages and if they have addressed the issue of the non-availability of such mortgages in the current housing market.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune