Residents in stand-off with City Council over new road

Date Published: 28-Apr-2011

By Dara Bradley

There was a stand-off between City Council workers and residents of an estate in Doughiska when the local authority moved in unannounced on Good Friday to commence building a road through a green area.

Several residents and newly co-opted City Councillor Frank Fahy (FG) protested on a green space at the Tur Uisce estate when Council workers commenced work on building a new road. Work was stopped due to health and safety concerns as a result of the protest.

The road is needed to gain access to a landlocked site that will, in time, be home to a brand new primary and secondary schools.

But residents of the estate are angry that the road proposed would cut through a green area of the estate, which they have been maintaining through paying property management fees for years.

Residents want the Council to consider moving the road northwards, so that the green space would be saved. It is understood, however, that the Council has an agreement with the VEC or Department of Education to have access made available to the site of the school at the end of June.

Also, it is believed that if the road is moved north, it would be greater in length and would be over 100 metres – any new road over 100 metres requires the City Council to apply for planning permission, which would delay the building of the road.

The residents are also questioning who has ownership of the particular piece of land.

It is not known yet why Council workers moved onto the site on Good Friday, a public holiday, but the local authority has now agreed to wait until next Tuesday until it commences work on the project again. Residents are now weighing up their options and receiving legal advice.

A spokesperson for the Council said it had discussions with residents last year in relation to the road, which it stresses is necessary for the development of two new schools which will be of benefit to the entire Doughiska area.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.