No progress on revamp of Blackrock Diving Tower

The planned permanent rehabilitation of the iconic Blackrock Diving Tower in Salthill is unlikely to take place before next year.

Galway City Council has confirmed that there will be rolling, temporary closures of the popular amenity over the next fortnight.

These scheduled May closures are “to facilitate power-washing and painting of the tower”.

This is an interim ‘facelift’, but the tower requires more permanent rehabilitation and repair works.

Two years ago, City Hall had planned to have these permanent works completed in time for this summer’s bathing season.

But a spokesperson this week confirmed that a planning application to An Bord Pleanála has not yet been submitted.

The City Council said that the tower will be closed again later this year, “to allow structural investigation works to be undertaken”.

“These investigation works are necessary for the preparation of a planning application to An Bord Pleanála and for subsequent rehabilitation works to the tower,” the Council said.

“The exact timeframe for these investigation works is to be confirmed but the busy summer period and weather conditions will be factored into the programme. The public will also be given advance notification of all planned closures,” it added.

A plan to rehabilitate the diving tower in 2017 was abandoned after significant push back from the public.

During Covid-19, the Council blamed staffing shortages for not progressing with new plans.

It emerged in 2021 that it would have to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála for approval because it is located in a Special Area of Conservation.

The plan was to submit an application to ABP in the second quarter of 2022, but that target was missed.