Go-ahead for new student housing units is welcomed

One of the four Vice Presidents of NUIG has welcomed the development of student accommodation in Bohermore which has successfully come through a planning appeal.

Dr Pat Morgan of NUI Galway said that there is an extreme shortage of purpose-built student accommodation in Galway. She added that the rental sector is no longer providing suitable capacity.

She pointed out that the university is developing additional student accommodation on campus with the intention of providing an additional 900 beds by 2020.

Dr Morgan said that the university is keen to encourage the provision of similar accommodation in existing buildings and brownfield sites in appropriate locations – either close to the campus or in areas that are well served by public transport.

She was reacting to an appeal to a decision by Galway City Council to grant planning permission for the provision of 77 units of student accommodation in Bohermore. The accommodation will be utilised for holiday use during the summer months.

City planners granted planning permission to IVS Student Development Bohermore Limited for the student accommodation at the Sandyfort Business Centre subject to 14 conditions being complied with. A proposed roof terrace was omitted from the plan in the interest of protecting the residential amenity of adjoining properties.

Despite opposition to the development, planners said that the development would not injure the residential amenities of properties in the vicinity and would be acceptable in terms of pedestrian and traffic safety.

However, Dr Derek Allsop, who occupies a two-storey house in the vicinity of the development, appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála on the grounds that it would add to traffic congestion in the area.

He said that the Sandyford Business Centre in Bohermore was never fully occupied and this was down to the potential traffic congestion, road safety and residential amenity.

Dr Allsop said that the Bohermore roundabout has five junctions and is one of the most congested in the city. The roads, he said, serve a range of uses including business centres, schools, a petrol station and the local cemetery.

“There are bus stops on both sides of Bohermore Road. The proposal would give rise to traffic congestion and a traffic hazard for pedestrians crossing in front of the entrance.

“The traffic management plan does not correctly estimate the required number of car parking spaces for term-time students and summer-time tourists or how this would affect traffic congestion or pedestrian safety,” Dr Allsop said in his submission to An Bord Pleanala.

The appeal was unsuccessful and the development of the student accommodation in Bohermore can proceed.