Traveller hardstands to be built in Knocknacarra and Westside

Traveller hardstands are to be built on sites in Knocknacarra and the Westside as part of a controversial emergency response to the overcrowded halting site in Lower Salthill.

Councillors said at a City Council meeting this week that the announcement came as a “bombshell” and slated officials for informing them in a one-page document without any maps.

Officials are looking at three Council-owned sites on the Ballymoneen Road in Knocknacarra, one of which will become a hardstand, and at a site it owns opposite the astro turf pitch in the Westside, which will also be used.

And if the scheme is not approved by councillors, Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath has said he is “not a bit afraid” to invoke his executive powers to steamroll through the plans.  A nationwide review of fire safety at halting sites – following the Carrickmines tragedy last year – identified serious health and safety issues at the Cúl Trá hardstand in Lower Salthill.

Eighteen families are living at the site, which was built in 1996 to accommodate six families – the Diocese of Galway as landowner has written to the Council informing it that a 25-year lease expires on the site in 2019, and pointing out the local authority is not in compliance with the terms of the lease.

The hardstand was described as “grossly overcrowded” by Council officials, who stressed they are now in an emergency situation.

Adding further pressure on the Council in terms of Traveller housing is the fact that a “temporary” halting site at Carrowbrowne does not have planning permission.

Inside the Galway City Tribune this week, we pinpoint the sites being assessed by the Council ahead of an announcement in the coming weeks.

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