CITY TRIBUNE
Transfer of Lenaboy Castle into public ownership still not completed
Agreement to transfer Lenaboy Castle into public ownership hasn’t been reached – almost three months after the deal was announced.
In early September, Galway City Council issued a statement to announce the Sisters of Mercy will transfer St Anne’s Children’s Home in Taylor’s Hill to the local authority. A cash payment of €750,000 was to be included in the deal, the Council said.
But nearly three months later, the deal hasn’t been finalised and won’t be until the New Year at the earliest.
The Council has refused to release documents relating to Lenaboy to this newspaper under Freedom of Information (FOI) request, citing a legal process. This process, the Council representative said, refers to the “potential acquisition of Lenaboy Castle”.
Use of the word “potential” suggested the acquisition was not the done deal the original statement issued in September 11 indicated.
And a Council spokesperson yesterday confirmed there are a number of outstanding issues before the deal closes.
“The transfer is still subject to ‘Contract/Contract denied.’ There are a number of outstanding issues which include the completion by the Sisters of Mercy of reports on traffic impact, access, a geo-physical survey and other internal building surveys.
“These are not expected to be completed before year-end. However, subject to ‘Contract/Contract denied’, the Chief Executive (of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath) hopes that the transfer will take place before the end of quarter one in 2018,” a spokesperson said.
Last month, Catherine Corless, the historian who uncovered a mass grave at the Tuam Mother and Babies Home, raised concerns of a similar burial site at Lenaboy, a former orphanage.
And this week Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has suggested access to historical documents relating to Lenaboy is being blocked.
The Sinn Féin representative raised the issue in the Seanad on Tuesday, where he asked the Minister for Housing to intervene to have all relevant paperwork released.
“It is a former Black and Tans barracks. We know from historical documents that there are tunnels under this building and some of the land surrounding it. I understand that heritage and archaeology reports have been done on the site. We have asked for these to be made available, but there appears to be some blockage in that regard,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh.
He added: “We want to ascertain whether there are burial grounds on the site. Is the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government aware of these reports, has he had sight of them and has he been consulted on the transfer of that building and land to Galway City Council, which has also been given €750,000 by the Sisters of Mercy as part of that deal?
“If, God forbid, there is need for an archaeological survey at this site, similar to that being carried out in Tuam, will there be an associated cost and if so, will it fall on the State, Galway City Council or some other agency? I wish to ascertain whether the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has been made aware of these issues and whether he has received a report in this regard.”
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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