CITY TRIBUNE
School on a mission to make space for wildlife to thrive!
The value of a plot of land is often calculated by how many properties can be built on it, but students and their teachers from Galway Community College are on a mission to show that sometimes, the greatest reward from land can be reaped by giving it back to nature.
As part of a project coming in under the umbrella of Galway National Park City, GCC Science and Geography teacher Tom Flanagan is coordinating the re-wilding of a 10-acre plot on the Renmore side of Lough Atalia – making space for wildlife to thrive.
“The land was acquired by the old VEC in 1987 with the idea that it could be used for a recreation space for students and for sail training,” explains Tom of how the site came into the ownership of Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB).
“Back when there was money around, the GRETB were going to develop a recreational site but it never went ahead. They did put some containers down there for kayaks and that’s how I came to know about it – I’m a trainer,” he continues, adding that Youthreach and Foróige were also regulars there at one point or another. 
Having trained students on the water there for the past 10 years, the ecological value of the site was always clear to Tom.
“When GCC got involved in Erasmus, we started to work with schools in Spain and Croatia and we were all looking at ways we could do something to address climate change – something both students and teachers are interested in.
“From it, we were granted quite significant funding for a three-year project on biodiversity loss in the city,” says Tom, who is coordinator of the GCC Erasmus programme.
The aim of the rewilding project is to look at corrective actions that can be taken to make the area a haven for wildlife, particularly as it’s a habitat for various species of birds, not to mention seals and otters.
“It had been used for grazing cattle but we feel there’s more of a benefit for ecology, wildlife and biodiversity if it’s allowed return to a flood land – to allow the reeds, rushes, irises and wildflowers flourish.
“Biodiversity on the whole will increase if it’s allowed return to its natural state,” Tom says.
Because of the ETB’s involvement, the land will offer the added benefit of becoming an outdoor classroom, something Tom believes in invaluable in educating young people about the natural world. The area will still be used for recreation, but in a way that’s respectful of nature.
“We will use some of the Erasmus funding to erect robust seating for an outdoor classroom where we can teach students about biodiversity and wildlife.
“We are so lucky to have this on our doorstep – it’s a chance to have a nature reserve where students can carry out research,” says Tom. GMIT carried out an extensive survey of the land in 2012 which provides them with an invaluable resource, he adds.
“For years, we’ve been teaching ecology to students by bringing them to the Burren when actually, there is an abundance of nature right here on their doorstep. I brought students down and we sat there for five minutes and saw seals – they had walked past Lough Atalia every day on their way to school and never knew there was a seal population there.”
Because the area is owned by GRETB, it will be open to several Galway schools. It will also be a resource for groups like Birdwatch Ireland and Conservation Volunteers Galway, says Tom.
“We have already given Conservation Volunteers Galway access to the site and they have put out rafts which became a nesting site for wild terns last year. We will work with any group that’s interested in ecology.”
With the rise of youth activism on environmental issues, young people’s interest in the topic is growing and this project is a tangible way for students to do something about the climate and biodiversity crisis, says Tom.
“Students are very passionate and knowledgeable about this. They’re frustrated because they’ve been learning about this their whole school lives and they know what needs to change, but they don’t see it happening. This offers them a way to connect with nature.”
“This is about letting nature do its thing, but also to have access to nature for recreation and for an outdoor classroom where young people can learn,” says Tom.
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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