Connacht Tribune
Loughrea has sufficient land zoned to meet growth targets
Loughrea’s local area plan will be extended for up to five years as there is more than enough residential and commercial land zoned under the current planning blueprint that has not been developed.
Valerie Loughnane of the Forward Planning Department in Galway County Council told a Loughrea Municipal District meeting that the current six-year area plan had a population growth target of 1,133 with a housing land requirement of 22 hectares (54 acres).
That remained a valid population target five years on and there had been limited development in the town since the plan was adopted in 2012.
“There is no evidence that this is going to change substantially in the immediate period ahead. Practically all of the 22 hectares that are required for phase one residential development remain undeveloped and the terms of the local area plan limits the extent of development in Loughrea to that amount to ensure compliance with the core strategy,” she stated in a report to councillors.
She said local area plans would be prepared for Tuam and Clifden first before the Council would turn its attention to Loughrea, Oranmore and Athenry.
By deferring the process, staff could use updated figures from the most-recent Census and benefit from the national planning framework due to be updated.
Cllr Joe Byrne (FG) said in the past ten years town centres had been decimated due to the development of retail parks outside so the next plan should really concentrate on consolidating businesses and homes at the heart of the towns.
“In Gort, there is a huge element of vacancies in the town centre. I’m concerned if we develop out-of-town centres, are we effectively going to shut down towns?”
His comments were reiterated by Cllr Jimmy McClearn (FG) who said Irish towns should not repeat the mistakes of the recent past and should protect town centres.
Cllr Michael Fahy (Ind) said he had been approached by Loughrea businesspeople who were concerned at recent applications for changes to existing planning permission at the Loughrea Shopping Centre at Rathruddy, where Aldi and Supervalu are currently located.
“They claim there’s a threat or a move on to get businesses located to the Athenry Road. This would be detrimental to the town centre. We should ensure the businesses are encouraged to come into the centres.”
Director of Services Jim Cullen said the matter should probably not be discussed in an open forum and the discussion should only focus on whether to defer the local area plan.
Cllr Shane Donnellan (FF) said he believed there would be no building in Loughrea in the next ten years, “never mind five [years]”.
“I’ve been speaking to developers recently and I don’t think the price is right,” he opined.
“We’ve worked with local businesses to get a reduction in the rates for new start-up businesses in empty premises and it’s there, it’s live, but there’s not much take on it.
“To make our towns vibrant, we need to look at the regulations involved. There is an awful lot of red tape to bringing life into our towns, I’m talking about the upper floors. There’s any amount of upstairs units sitting vacant or derelict. That’s an area we need to focus on.”
Fine Gael’s Michael ‘Mogie’ Maher said there were landowners in Loughrea who wanted to develop land which had been zoned residential under phase two but as the land in phase one had not been built on, they were unable to go ahead with their projects.
Ms Loughnane said land that had not been developed during the lifetime of the plan would be re-examined in the next one.
“We can’t keep rezoning lands that are not coming to the market,” she stated.
“I completely agree with you in terms of our town centres. We are looking at a fresh approach . . . zoning outside for commercial purposes leaves it difficult to consolidate. We need to be more focused . . . Loughrea is one of the most pleasant towns in the county so we hope to bring more things back into the town centre.”
A final decision on whether to defer the local area plan would be voted on by all Galway county councillors.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
