Galway City councillors to vote on controversial Land Bill

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – City councillors will vote next Monday on two motions that oppose elements of the Land Development Agency (LDA) Bill – specifically a provision that removes the right of local representatives to vote on the disposal of public lands for housing.

The motions, brought forward by Cllr Owen Hanley (Soc Dem) and Cllr Colette Connolly (Ind) both resist moves by the Government to remove Section 183 of the Local Government Act – the section that gives councillors the right to decide on the sale or transfer of lands owned by the local authority.

Cllr Connolly lashed Government for stripping elected representatives of one of their few remaining ‘reserved functions’, an act she described as ‘an affront to democracy’.

“It will force councillors to accept the ratio of affordable to private homes on public land. The LDA is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, nor is it subject to the Lobbying Register.

“The crux of the issue is the Government’s failure to deliver social housing,” she continued.

Cllr Hanley said he wasn’t putting down his motion to ‘demonise the LDA’, and he believed the agency did have a role to play in dealing with the housing crisis.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.