CITY TRIBUNE
Objector failed to show at Warwick Hotel oral hearing
A Bord Pleanála oral hearing on plans to build a four-storey nursing home on the site of the former Warwick Hotel came to abrupt end last week, when the one objector to plans didn’t turn up.
City planners granted planning permission for the construction of a 60-bed nursing home to Sharon and Paul Conlon of Rushmany Nursing Home Ltd in July last year, but an appeal was lodged by Iura Matel, with an address in Dublin, shortly afterwards.
Planning Inspector Delores McCabe heard that the applicants had sought an oral hearing due to “concerns” over the identity of the appellant.
Mr Matel had claimed in his appeal that the proposed development represented excessive density on the site and exceeded density standards as set out in the City Development Plan.
The appeal argued that the site was inappropriate, given that it adjoins two-storey buildings, and its adjacency to the low-density Lenaboy Gardens estate to the rear.
At the hearing, following a roll call by Ms McCabe to check for the attendance of all parties to the appeal, it was established that Mr Matel was not present.
“Mr Matel doesn’t appear to be present and so I am going to close the hearing,” she said.
Legal counsel for the applicants, David Browne, said that they were concerned over the legitimacy of the appeal as Mr Matel’s name had been spelled differently on a three of documents submitted to the Board.
He said in a case where the appellant does not turn up to an oral hearing, there were grounds for the dismissal of an appeal.
“I would like to formally apply for the appeal to be withdrawn,” said Mr Browne, adding that both he and his clients, the Conlons, believed it to be “vexatious”.
Ms McCabe said Mr Browne’s request would be noted.
In files submitted by the project team, it is pointed out that Mr Matel had presented his passport as verification but that the signature on it was different to that on the appeal. In fact, there were four different signatures across the documentation.
“The various permutations of the appellant’s name do not appear on the Register of Electors in the area,” the project team stated.
“To date, the appellant has not provided proof that he has been residing at this address since the first submission to the Council in October 2017.”
Engineers for the project team sent two registered letters – on December 22, 2017 and June 29, 2018 – but both could not be delivered to the address given by Mr Matel.
Rushmany Nursing Home Ltd purchased the site of the former Warwick Hotel in 2015 for a figure believed to be in the region of €700,000 and the following year, secured planning permission for its demolition.
In October 2017, they applied for planning permission to Galway City Council for the construction of a nursing home on the three-quarter acre site – with surface car parking and a south-facing landscaped amenity area with outdoor seating.
However, planners ordered a redesign with a significant increase in the quantity and quality of open space.
Planners also cited concerns over fire safety and instructed designers to liaise with the Chief Fire Officer.
Planning was granted for the redesigned 3,888 square metre facility but was put on hold following an appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
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.
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
