CITY TRIBUNE
Galway Rowing Club plans centre of excellence for Dyke Road
Galway Rowing Club has unveiled an impressive plan to create a regional ‘centre of excellence’ for water sports on the banks of the River Corrib in the city.
The club expects a planning application for a modern, multi-user, multi-sports and training facility on a site at the Dyke Road will be lodged next March.
The ‘landmark’ centre will house Connacht’s first rowing tank, which is an indoor training facility that mimics the conditions rowers face on the open waters. It will have facilities for all, including para athletes.
How the new clubhouse would look.
Galway Rowing Club has taken the lead in progressing the project, which has the broad support of an array of other city rowing clubs and other water sports organisations who will use it.
The exact size and footprint of the new building, and the exact nature of the equipment and facilities to be housed there, hasn’t yet been confirmed – all that will be determined by the level of interest and the needs of existing clubs and schools, as well as prospective new clubs and new schools who might be interested in using it, a club spokesperson said.
The cost of the capital investment, as a result, hasn’t been determined either. However, the club representative said it is envisaged that it would be built, “without putting a financial burden” on the City Council, in “either the delivery of it, or the operation of it”.
In 2004, plans to relocate Galway Rowing Club in Woodquay was turned down by An Bórd Pleanála after initially being approved the City Council planners. On that occasion, it was envisaged that the entire clubhouse would be moved. However, the club has decided to retain its clubhouse and remain in the community at Woodquay, moving only its rowing facilities to a safer, more modern, fit-for-purpose, and purpose-built building at another location upstream.
The design-brief will be drawn up in August and September following two months of public consultation, which begins in July.
A club representative said they will be anxious to hear the views of existing rowing and water sports clubs, about their needs, as well as the views of schools or people who might have an idea to set up a club in the future and are prospective users.
All other stakeholders – including people involved in Terryland Forest Park, to see how that might ‘compliment’ the development – and organisations with possible concerns, or observations, will also be invited to take part in the consultation process. “It will be a multi-user, multi-sports facility,” a club representative said.
Apart from Coláiste Iognaid (The Jes), which has a new boatshed, each rowing club in Galway “train out of old and largely decrepit sheds”, according to the plans outlined to City Councillors on Monday. NUIG’s rowing, kayaking and sub-aqua clubs, “are still using the old industrial units from the former pram factory.”
Representatives of the club outlined how water safety is the main challenge facing water sports in the city. “Members of every water sport in Galway have to pass by the weir as they enter the main river. From November to March this can be a highly dangerous journey, particularly for beginners, as they look to master new skills while negotiating a fast-flowing river,” it said.
The club emphasised in its proposal that the earmarked site would be safer as it is more than 500 metres upstream from the weir; and it boasts an “excellent line of sight both up and down river, ensuring that no clashes occur between water-based crafts travelling in opposite direction.”
It would help fill the infrastructural deficit in the city for water sports, as well as helping to cater for the increased demand for water sports, which currently is not possible.
The proposal points out that “rowing has never been more popular, particularly among young women”, but there isn’t sufficient rack space available at the existing facilities.
The Dyke Road site, on the left at the bend before you come to Quincentenary Bridge travelling outbound from the city, is in City Council ownership.
It is zoned recreational and amenity, and a special objective in the City Development Plan states that the local authority will “consider the development of these lands to accommodate municipal and club water-based facilities”.
A land-lease agreement with the Council may be considered, and the plans would have to go through the regular planning application process.
The club argued that the Dyke Road site is the “only viable site with the appropriate river access”. It has “excellent road access” and is nearby a public car park.
The centre will have storage space to cater for, “much larger fleets of rowing boats, kayaks, and other specialist water-based equipment, enabling far greater participation.” There will also be additional space to allow visiting clubs to come to Galway more often.
Former city mayor Pádraig Conneely (FG), lauded Galway Rowing Club for its “vision and foresight” in bringing forward progressive plans.
“Galway Rowing Club has a long and proud tradition, and the city has a long association with the club and the sport of rowing. The plans for a modern training centre of excellence will cater for existing rowers and will also encourage more young people to become involved in rowing.
“It is an ideal site, and the fantastic facilities they are proposing are of such a high standard that they will ensure that rowers from Galway and Galway’s rowing community will continue to be able to compete on the national and international stage.
“The big advantage of this plan is that it will be used by several other rowing and water sports clubs, who have smaller facilities dotted around the place. This will be one centre of excellence on one site for everyone’s benefit. I’ve no doubt Galway City Council would be amenable to making the site available,” said Cllr Conneely.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
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