Galway county councillors vow to reject city ‘landgrab’

Galway County Councillors have warned that any attempts at a landgrab to extend the city boundary into outlying villages will be firmly resisted.

Many of them were still seething this week at the suggestion by a city councillor that the boundary be extended to take in Barna, Oranmore, Claregalway and possibly Moycullen into their administrative area.

And a senior official with Galway County Council stated that such a move could not happen as it would have a huge impact on the local authority’s finances and particularly when it came to revenue from rates.

Chief Executive Jim Cullen said that it would not be viable from a County Council perspective – and it would take a massive compensation package from the City Council, even to allow it up for debate.

The matter is expected to be discussed at next month’s meeting of Galway City Council as more than half of their councillors supported a motion for a rethink on the boundary.

However, the City Council have been labelled as ‘land-grabbers’ by some members of Galway County Council who vehemently opposed any such suggestion.

An animated Cllr James Charity (Ind) said that he was stunned that there was no consultation with local public representatives in Athenry Oranmore Municipal Council to ascertain their views.

“There wasn’t even a phone call from any of the city councillors to facilitate a discussion on the matter.

“It is nothing short of a land-grabbing exercise and it is obvious that they are only interested in the most populated areas where they will earn the most from rates and local property tax,” said Cllr Charity.

Oranmore-based Cllr Liam Carroll (FG) was equally annoyed and said that it showed a lack of respect for members of the area.

“This is the same City Council who have been sitting on their hands when it comes to the development of Ardaun as a settlement area. They cannot mind what they have,” he added.

Equally, Cllr Tomás Ó Curraoin (Ind) in Barna said that he would be opposing any move to include the village as part of the City Council area.

“Look, they cannot sort out the flooding problem in the Spanish Arch and they recently did a road job in Taylor’s Hill and if you threw tarmac down off a plane, it would be equally as good.

“As far as I am concerned, they won’t come an inch further than Barna ball alley,” Cllr Ó Curraoin stated.

According to Cllr Jim Cuddy (Ind) in Claregalway, the City Council are trying to do what the Russians did when they invaded Crimea.

“I have been speaking to the city councillor who proposed the boundary extension and told him not a chance.

“Look what they have done to the Martin Roundabout on the Dublin Road. They have spent millions on this project and it is still a mess. It was working perfectly before they decided to do a job on it,” added Cllr Cuddy.