CITY TRIBUNE
Watchdog expresses concerns over Taaffe’s building
The Galway Association of environmental watchdog, An Taisce, has expressed concern over the status of the protected Taaffe’s shop site on William Street – with fears that its deterioration could lead to its eventual demolition.
The site, which was purchased by developer Gerry Barrett in 2006 for a reported €20 million, was earmarked to become an outlet for Spanish retail giant, Zara.
However, delays in securing planning permission and the economic downturn put paid to these plans and the premises have remained vacant since.
When an original planning application was granted for development of the unit, An Taisce appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála – citing the local significance of the building.
The national planning body granted permission with several conditions – including the conservation of a protected structure and the preservation of its architectural integrity and heritage value.
Chairman of An Taisce’s Galway Association, Derrick Hambleton, said that there are now serious concerns that the building could become irreparable.
“An Taisce are taking the view that this is leading towards a situation where the building may be declared unsafe,” said Mr Hambleton.
Documents seen by the Galway City Tribune reveal that a report on the building was carried out in August 2017 by civil and structural engineers for Galway City Council.
It outlines the current state of the property including a wet-rot problem as a result of “high-moisture content” – in excess of the 20 per cent level at which timber is vulnerable to decay.
The building contains two cut-stone arches which have been deemed to hold considerable architectural importance.
The report questions the necessity for props which have been placed under said arches.
“It is unclear why these props have been provided because, based on visual inspection, the arch does not appear to be exhibiting signs of structural problems.
“…the effectiveness of the installed props in providing additional support to the arch is questionable based on the condition of the props and specifically their contact with the soffit of the arch.”
Steel beams are noted in the report as showing signs of “significant corrosion”.
While it states that the building is not, in its current condition, a “dangerous structure”, this conclusion comes with a caveat.
“Further damage could lead to the overall structural integrity of the building ultimately being compromised,” it warns.
Mr Hambleton believed that failure to protect the structure amounted to neglect on behalf of both the developer and Galway City Council.
“An Bord Pleanála has said that everything that can be preserved should be preserved – nobody is expecting the whole thing to be preserved but Bord Pleanála’s rulings should be observed.
“The City Council is not doing its job; and under the legislation, if a building is listed as protected, they have the legal authority to insist they repair that building and there are several stages that they can go through – eventually getting to the stage of a compulsory purchase order,” explained Mr Hambleton.
He said he had sought assurance from the Council in December of last year that they were protecting the building.
Correspondence from City Hall confirmed that an inventory of archaeological material and stones unlocked from the dismantling of the rear of the property was forwarded to the Council from the developer.
The Council have informed An Taisce that they have, as of March this year, requested that the developer provide an updated timescale for necessary works – outlining when the remaining planning conditions will be complied with.
An Bord Pleanála stipulated in their 2009 planning decision that all repairs should retain the maximum amount of joinery and plasterwork, while causing minimum interference to the building’s structure and fabric.
Mr Hambleton said that An Taisce wants to see these elements preserved and for the building to return to use – and called for immediate action to be taken to halt its decline.
He said that Taaffe’s was an integral part of Galway’s social history and that any future business to be based on the site could benefit from having these architectural styles dating as far back as the eighteenth century incorporated in their design.
“Taaffe’s shop is nothing really but it is important in its own way – it is worthy of recognition as part of our past,” said Mr Hambleton.
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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