CITY TRIBUNE
Green light for 100 new homes in east of Galway City
Local residents have lost their battle against plans for the construction of more than 100 apartments and houses in Ballybrit which they believe will worsen an already chaotic traffic situation – a daily feature on AA Roadwatch radio reports prior to Covid-19.
Last December, plans for the development of land adjacent to The Meadows in Ballybrit were lodged with An Bord Pleanála – despite failing to meet City Development Plan guidelines on open space and parking.
Trean Meadow Ltd had sought permission to develop the five-acre site off the Ballybane More road (adjacent to Ballybrit Heights and The Meadows) and construct 78 apartments and 24 houses, as well as a childcare facility with space for 45 kids.
The residential units will be in a mix of one, two, three and four-beds.
The planning application was made directly to An Bord Pleanála under Strategic Housing Development (SHD) ‘fast-track’ legislation – proposals for housing developments of more than 100 residential units or 200 student bed spaces can be made directly to the Board following initial consultations with local authorities.
The application itself noted that it may be in ‘potential material contravention’ of the current Galway City Development Plan, which requires that 153 resident parking spaces and 34 visitor spaces be provided. However, the current proposal if for 105 spaces – 44 for the houses and the remaining 61 spaces for the apartments. A further seven have been allocated for the creche.
“The delivery of a high-quality residential development and associated infrastructure including a childcare facility should not be constrained by the open space and carparking provision as proposed. The development complies with the objectives of efficient use of land, delivering housing on residential zoned land and within one of the five key cities of the country.
“The proposed car parking provision equates to at least one space per dwelling . . . [it] can be justified due to the proximity of the application site to public transport links,” the application reads.
It adds that while just 14% of the site has been allocated for open space (the Development Plan stipulates 15%), there are recreational facilities at Castle Park, a 12-minute walk, and Merlin Woods, a 28-minute walk.
During the public submission process, several local residents made submissions to An Bord Pleanála in relation to the proposals.
All of the residents expressed concerns about existing traffic problems in the general area and noted that Ballybane More Road is used as a rat-run from the city during evening rush hour and into the city in the mornings due to the proximity of major exits to Dublin, Oranmore, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo.
One resident recorded 1,135 vehicles passing the adjacent road between 7.10am and 9.15am on one Wednesday morning in January.
Another resident said that due to the lack of parking spaces proposed in the development, it was reasonable to expect the excess cars of residents and visitors would have to park on the Ballybane More Road, which is currently narrower that standard roads in the vicinity – any parked cars would cause an obstruction.
Another resident on that road said that HGVs often get locked when trying to pass each other, and his garden wall has been demolished several times as a result.
On the morning of January 14 between 8-9am, he counted 1,320 traffic movements past his driveway.
“The development is grossly oversized for the location. It is totally out of proportion with existing dwellings. It is visually out of character and will destroy the last remaining undeveloped landscape and wildlife habitat in this area.
“I have no objection to a drastically scaled-down version [of the development] going ahead. The visual impact is absolutely unfair to my family, my neighbours and the poor souls that would have to live in that concrete jungle,” the objector said.
The DRA Community Group (Doughiska, Roscam, Ardaun) said the Ballybane More Road is not adequate to accommodate the existing traffic flow, and believed the three-storey apartment block fronting onto the road would be out of character.
Concerns were also expressed about the lack of pedestrian pathways and cycle lanes within the development and outside the site.
“The density [of the residences] is not considered conducive to family life, as they are considered too confined, without additional open space for children and adults to play and to live in harmony,” the DRA submission reads.
It added that there are a limited number of openings between buildings, which created a potential for them to be used as alleyways and therefore antisocial behaviour.
In her report on the application, An Bord Pleanála’s Senior Planning Inspector, Fiona Fair, said the development would be a “medium density scheme that respects, responds to and integrates with the immediate and surrounding context” and that it would not have significant undue adverse impact on the amenity of the adjoining area.
Ms Fair added that the quantum and quality of landscaping and public open space was acceptable, but highlighted that the site is constrained in terms of change in levels and the use of retaining walls, staircases and an embankment.
She also pointed out the development would result in an improvement in terms of footpath connectivity along the Ballybane More road, and improve pedestrian connectivity.
The Board approved planning permission, attaching a number of conditions, including a stipulation that construction work can only take place from 7am to 7pm Mondays to Saturdays and that 105 carparking spaces and 150 secure cycle parking spaces be provided.
It also ordered that one of the two-bed single-storey houses be omitted from the plans and the area be used for open space instead.
Trean Meadow is owned by Belmullet racehorse owner and bookmaker Damian Lavelle.
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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