CITY TRIBUNE
Planners query scale of school extension
Planners have asked Our Lady’s College on the Presentation Road to justify why it needs such a big extension and to outline how it intends to reduce car usage among parents and staff given the large increase in traffic it would generate on an already constrained site.
The project, which the school claims will accommodate 420 students in the future with over 50 staff, will allow the relocation of the remaining students and staff currently located at the former Mercy secondary school site at Newtownsmyth.
Our Lady’s College is a merger of the Mercy and Presentation secondary schools.
In a letter to the Galway City Tribune, local resident Paul Flynn said 70 families on the Presentation Road, Mill Street and Canal Road objected to the extension, claiming it is a waste of public money as just 275 students are likely to be enrolled.
“Student numbers are now at 324. Only 31 students did the entrance exam in February and about 80 students are leaving. There is no student attending Our Lady’s College that lives within 1km, maybe even 2km radius of the school . . . Galway City has enough voluntary Catholic schools and, as a city, we need an Educate Together Secondary School. Why waste more public money on something that is not needed?”
Residents, whose objection was lodged out of time and not accepted by the planners, argue it will increase traffic and pollution and that the size and height of the building is excessive.
In its request for further information, the school has been asked to provide an overview of the operation of the existing school buildings on site, outlining student numbers, staffing and vehicle access. They have also been asked to provide an in-depth road safety audit given that “the proposed development gives rise to significant traffic and pedestrian safety concerns on a site that is already constrained”.
“Particularly, the proposal to increase private car movements on site, by virtue of the proposed vehicle access arrangements, which includes a one way traffic system, including drop off.”
The planners have criticised the lack of measures to encourage sustainable transport measures and use of public transport.
They said that the school’s mobility management plan had “a target of only 11%” reduction in private car use by parents”, which it said was unsustainable. The target increase of 4% in bicycle use was not sufficient and pointed out no cycle parking was proposed.
“It is noted that no targets are set for staff members, which is considered to be unacceptable/inappropriate. With a staff compliment of approximately 60, the figure provided of 72% of staff using private cars has the potential to result in at least 43 cars on site.”
The school predicted it would have 420 students in the future with over 50 staff. The planners point out that the existing site has little or no PE space and the extension does not propose any.
“The lack of any internal or external physical education spaces does not accord with national post-primary school design guidelines.”
The application had no assessment of its impact on the Corrib or the canal and had not submitted a flood risk assessment.
They have been asked now to provide expert reports on these as well as a heritage impact assessment of the protected building.
Ceist (the Catholic Education and Irish Schools Trust), the operators of the school, has sought permission for a three-storey extension to accommodate three classrooms, a new science lab, business studies room, technology rooms, preparation rooms and toilets.
The new building is proposed for the northern end of the 1960s structure on the school grounds, and will involve the removal of a pre-fab classroom to adjacent to the canal; removal of a storage and toilet enclosure under the 1960s building and removal of a pre-fab classroom adjacent to the primary school building.
The 20th century railings on the boundary wall south of the primary school will also be removed.
According to an architectural impact statement included with the application, while the development will be in close proximity to four protected structures [at the Presentation Convent and St Joseph’s Church], no historic fabric will be lost, with the sole exception of a limited area of limestone wall, which will be of limited significance.
“This overall school site has evolved significantly, particularly from the mid-20th century onwards. The proposed extension is considered to be in scale with the existing 1960s structure, and will facilitate the sensible natural evolution of a secondary campus with no detrimental effect on the four protected structures within its immediate vicinity,” the report reads.
A new site entrance has been developed adjacent to St Joseph’s Church on Presentation Road.
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.
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