Planning process is all a bit Irish for Council

Galway County Council’s plans for a major social housing in Conamara has gone back to the drawing board – because it got the name of the village wrong in its application!

The plan for 31 social houses on a Council-owned site in Moycullen had to be withdrawn and resubmitted because the local authority referred to the anglicised version of the village and not Maigh Cuillinn.

This was in breach of the County Council’s own Scéim Teanga – or language scheme – so the local authority had to resubmit the application using the Irish-language version of the village only.

Director of Services for Housing, Liam Hanrahan, wrote to county councillors informing them of the error.

It’s understood that not correcting it at this stage may have led to a judicial review down the line.

The Council wants to build 27 two-beds and four three-beds at a site on Mountain Road – or Bóthar an tSléibhe – in the townlands of Coill Bhruacháin and Gort Uí Lochlainn.

It has drawn significant opposition from locals who want to see the site retained in community ownership for recreation and amenity purposes.

Read the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now. Or you can download the digital edition on www.connachttribune.ie