Planners give green light to new five-screen cinema

Ballinasloe is to get its own five-screen cinema following the granting of planning permission by Galway County Council – a decision welcomed by local business representatives see it as a major boost to the town.

The proposed cinema is planned for a 1.5-acre site at Dunlo, beside the Aldi and Tesco stores, where there will be substantial car parking.

The application was submitted by Omniplex Holdings in October last year for the new cinema which will now be the only such facility that is located in rural County Galway.

In considering the application, Galway County Council said that the development of a cinema at this location was acceptable – but that they had to consider traffic movements in the area when reaching a decision.

The applicant was required to carry out a traffic and transport assessment to determine how the different types of traffic would be dealt with.

There was a request for further information regarding how the development would integrate with its location and the developers subsequently provided the Council with an environmental impact statement and archaeological impact assessment.

Planning permission was granted subject to 13 conditions. No signage can be erected at the new cinema without the agreement of the planning authority.

The developers are also required to engage the services of a qualified archaeologist to monitor all groundworks during the course of construction.

Local area councillor Aisling Dolan has welcomed the news that planning has been granted for the cinema and said it will be a major boost for the town.

“It will be a fantastic facility for Ballinasloe given the fact that no cinema exists between Galway city and Athlone.

“When I was growing up, there used to be films shown in the Town Hall but this proposed development would provide Ballinasloe with a huge boost.

“It will also have the effect of bringing more people into Ballinasloe and particularly at the weekends and increase footfall in the process,” Cllr Dolan added.

It was stated in the traffic impact assessment that both the cinema and the proposed adjacent 95-house development would be using separate roads up to a nearby roundabout.

It is further stated that the road to the cinema development and Aldi is a dead end and therefore no future development is possible.