Galway Hospice plan for Merlin Woods set for oral hearing

Galway City Tribune – A decision by Galway City Council to grant planning permission to build the new Galway Hospice in Merlin Woods will come under public scrutiny at a Bord Pleanála oral hearing next month.

Scheduled to run from December 4, the hearing will examine the objections of three appellants who believe the site off the Dublin Road is unsuitable for the development.

Caroline Stanley of Friends of Merlin Woods – one of the appellants – says the oral hearing will be an opportunity to expand on their arguments in a public forum, before a Bord Pleanála Planning Inspector.

“Friends of Merlin Woods are happy to be able to bring their case, along with the other appellants, before the inspector of An Bord Pleanála through an Oral Hearing.

“It is our view that this planning should never have been granted and sets a bad precedence for further high biodiversity areas within our city to be destroyed,” said Ms Stanley.

Based on environmental grounds, Friends of Merlin Woods argue that the bio-diverse meadow that the development has been approved to go ahead on is protected – and a vital resource for the community.

The proposal involves the Hospice moving from its current 18-bed unit in Renmore to a state-of-the-art two-storey building with 36 palliative care beds, a day centre and therapy rooms.

This is a preview only. To read the rest of this article, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.

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