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Residents up in arms after coaches hijack former green space
Residents of Kinvara are up in arms over the apparent hijacking of a green space by coaches – an area which had been removed as part of the work on the new sewage treatment plant.
So far 600 people have signed a petition demanding that the small area of grass be reinstated in order to prevent it from becoming an ugly unofficial car and coach park permanently.
For the last six weeks anything up to six coaches are parking in the area at the one time. The village has become a popular pit stop for tour groups, with an estimated 50 coaches a day pulling in to use toilets and wander around. Kinvara has no public toilets or dedicated coach park.
Those leading the ‘Save Kinvara Green’ campaign insist this amenity is a key part of the picturesque pier used by Galway families and tourists to have a picnic or hold stalls during the annual Cruinniu na mBád festival.
They understood the area would be temporarily tarred over to facilitate the installation of holding tanks for the new sewage treatment facility and that it would be left for up to nine months in its current state.
“Residents have been told that while it is within the contract of Coffey Construction to reinstate the green, plans are afoot to change the layout in order to facilitate additional parking facilities for coaches and cars,” according to one resident who has joined the campaign.
“Local residents are very distressed by this development and claim that the proper planning process has been ignored. The quay in Kinvara is an area of great beauty and rustic charm. Few towns in Ireland can boast such a beautiful setting.
“Kinvara Pier is a protected structure under the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and any proposal to alter its surrounds have to be scrutinised with care by both the planning authority and the community to ensure that the character of the area is not damaged.”
Local resident and Galway County Councillor Joe Byrne said he was told verbally last May by a senior council engineer that the green would be reinstated. However, when he was given a copy of the contract drawings by the end of June he could see there was no such plan to return the amenity as it was.
He understands that one option under consideration is to remove the green area in the middle but widen the parkland beside the quay.
“What’s there at present nobody wants – I certainly don’t, but that’s what in the contract. I wouldn’t be happy with that – there’s no parking control in place at all,” he stated.
“I was born on the quay myself – the green area in the middle is part of the quay’s heritage but it does cause a problem with traffic movement. There are pros and cons to each suggestion. I’m very much in discussion mode with everyone to come up with a solution which should have been addressed in a traffic management study that I’ve been calling on for a long time.
“One thing that is for sure is the quay is never going to a solution to parking in Kinvara – it’s an amenity area – but there should be a provision that if a coach does come into the quay area it should be able to get out.
“Commercial business who pay their rates are entitled to facilities that allow coaches to pull up.”
Campaigners say they acknowledge there is a need for a bus and coach park in the village with the increase in tourists on the Wild Atlantic Way.
But they argue that parking needs to be planned within a whole village context in a traffic management plan with public consultation.
“Traffic problems will not be solved by changing the attractiveness of the quay area to facilitate two-way car, camper van, minibuses and larger coach traffic and a few more parking bays.
“The original green acted like a roundabout or traffic island and made traffic slow down ensuring safety. It also limited parking and prevented buses from double-parking for drop-offs as has been witnessed in recent weeks,” said the spokesperson.
“There is a very real worry that leaving the pier in its current state for up to nine months is creating a precedent that the pier area is suitable for parking buses and cars. As a community, the residents feel that they are being put under pressure to forget about the original green space and to consider other layouts.
“We’re calling on Galway County Council to engage with the locals about this critical change to the aesthetics of our village.”
Director of Water Services and Environment at Galway County Council, Jim Cullen, said the Council had received several enquiries about the public green and had responded to them all.
“The situation is that the green space was needed temporarily as part of the works associated with the Kinvara Sewerage Scheme which is ongoing at the moment. When the scheme is finished the green area will be restored,” he stated.
The Director of Services for Roads, Liam Gavin, also insisted the green would be returned.
“There are all sorts of rumours going around about what’s to happen. I think people may be mixing up the traffic management plan which is planned for next year when the green may be considered in a different context. But that’s a separate issue for another day.
A public meeting on the issue will be held on Wednesday, August 17 at 8pm in St Joseph’s Primary School Hall.
All those interested are invited to attend.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
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.”
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
