Nursing home on Warwick site given go ahead

Planners have given the green light for the redevelopment of the Warwick Hotel site in Salthill to make way for a 60-bed nursing home.

Sharon and Paul Conlon of Rushmany Nursing Home Ltd purchased the former hotel at the end of 2015 for a figure believed to be in the region of €700,000 and the following year secured planning permission for its demolition.

Last October, the new owners applied to Galway City Council for permission to build a four-storey, 60-bed nursing home, with surface carparking and a south-facing landscaped amenity area with outdoor seating on the three-quarter acre site.

However, planners ordered a redesign, pointing out that the development would be in conflict with public health and safety, particularly in the context of fire safety and means of escape. The applicants were ordered to liaise with the Chief Fire Officer.

The Council also ordered a significant increase in the quantity and quality of open space provided.

Redesigned plans were submitted to the Council, which have now been given approval.

They have stipulated that before work begins, a detailed landscaping plan, with a ‘homezone’ area to the rear, must be agreed in writing.

One objection to the application was lodged, by Iura Matel with an address in Dublin, on the grounds that the size of the site cannot accommodate a nursing home of this scale, and the building is “crammed in”.

Neighbouring residents at Lenaboy Park said that while not opposed in principle to the development, they wanted the side entrance into the estate closed off and limitations to upper level windows.

Rushmany already operates Rushmore Nursing Home in Knocknacarra.