A decision by Galway City Council to permit the demolition of the Eyre Square entrance to the Eyre Square Shopping Centre has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Shancar Development Limited had been granted permission to demolish the existing building and construct a new building for retail use that would consist of basement, ground and two upper floors, and which would link into the existing mall.
Nearby traders had objected to the plans, suggesting that the proposed new retail unit would limit access from Eyre Square for customers to existing retail units in the centre, in addition to diminishing the presence and visibility of existing units.
Galway Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label galway city council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label galway city council. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Judge orders planning vote rethink
A HIGH Court judge has directed Galway city councillors to reconsider part of their development plan following a controversial vote earlier this year.
Mr Justice George Birmingham said all 15 members of the council should retake, by July 11th, their votes on a material amendment to the plan that would designate lands at Westside retail-commercial area as a district centre. The council had voted to reject that amendment.
Part of those lands at Rahoon are owned by former Fianna Fáil councillor Michael O’Higgins, who made submissions as part of the development plan review in support of a district centre designation. He hopes designation will facilitate the development of a Tesco outlet.
Following last January’s vote rejecting the district centre designation, he brought High Court proceedings against the council over the manner in which the vote was exercised.
The vote was held after a row earlier in the meeting between the mayor (Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael Crowe) and Independent Cllr Catherine Connolly.
The mayor considered remarks made by Cllr Connolly offensive and sought to have her leave the meeting.
The councillors voted by seven votes to five, with three abstentions, that she should leave the meeting.
She did not leave but the mayor did, after which the deputy mayor took over the chair.
The vote on the Rahoon lands was tied at 7/7 but, with the casting vote of the deputy mayor, the motion to designate them as a district centre was defeated.
Mr O’Higgins claimed Cllr Connolly was required, under the council’s standing orders to leave and, had she done so, the vote would have been in his favour.
Mr O’Higgins, Taylor’s Hill, Galway, and his company, T O’hUiginn Comhlucht Teoranta, sought orders overturning the vote relating to his lands.
He also sought orders providing for a district centre designation or, alternatively, an order requiring the council to retake the vote in accordance with its standing orders.
Yesterday, following legal argument, Mr Justice Birmingham said he wanted a new vote to take place on the amendment and knew all councillors would cast their votes “in good conscience”.
The question of who could vote on the matter was fundamental to the validity of any decision and therefore the outcome of the meeting was irregular, he said.
He did not believe other councillors had effectively waived their earlier decision that Cllr Connolly should leave but rather were of the view they should get on with the meeting.
He also indicated Cllr Connolly could participate at the meeting to reconsider the vote.
He said she had only been asked to leave the January meeting, not any other.
He awarded two-thirds of the costs of the proceedings to Mr O’Higgins.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Justice George Birmingham said all 15 members of the council should retake, by July 11th, their votes on a material amendment to the plan that would designate lands at Westside retail-commercial area as a district centre. The council had voted to reject that amendment.
Part of those lands at Rahoon are owned by former Fianna Fáil councillor Michael O’Higgins, who made submissions as part of the development plan review in support of a district centre designation. He hopes designation will facilitate the development of a Tesco outlet.
Following last January’s vote rejecting the district centre designation, he brought High Court proceedings against the council over the manner in which the vote was exercised.
The vote was held after a row earlier in the meeting between the mayor (Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael Crowe) and Independent Cllr Catherine Connolly.
The mayor considered remarks made by Cllr Connolly offensive and sought to have her leave the meeting.
The councillors voted by seven votes to five, with three abstentions, that she should leave the meeting.
She did not leave but the mayor did, after which the deputy mayor took over the chair.
The vote on the Rahoon lands was tied at 7/7 but, with the casting vote of the deputy mayor, the motion to designate them as a district centre was defeated.
Mr O’Higgins claimed Cllr Connolly was required, under the council’s standing orders to leave and, had she done so, the vote would have been in his favour.
Mr O’Higgins, Taylor’s Hill, Galway, and his company, T O’hUiginn Comhlucht Teoranta, sought orders overturning the vote relating to his lands.
He also sought orders providing for a district centre designation or, alternatively, an order requiring the council to retake the vote in accordance with its standing orders.
Yesterday, following legal argument, Mr Justice Birmingham said he wanted a new vote to take place on the amendment and knew all councillors would cast their votes “in good conscience”.
The question of who could vote on the matter was fundamental to the validity of any decision and therefore the outcome of the meeting was irregular, he said.
He did not believe other councillors had effectively waived their earlier decision that Cllr Connolly should leave but rather were of the view they should get on with the meeting.
He also indicated Cllr Connolly could participate at the meeting to reconsider the vote.
He said she had only been asked to leave the January meeting, not any other.
He awarded two-thirds of the costs of the proceedings to Mr O’Higgins.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Work set to start on Galway's €4m arthouse cinema
GALWAY CITY Council’s planned “cultural quarter” has taken a step forward with confirmation that construction is due to start shortly on a €4 million arthouse cinema.
The 350-seat cinema is being developed on Merchant’s Road, close to the docks. The project has been initiated in partnership with Solas, comprising Galway Film Society, Galway Film Fleadh, Galway Film Centre and Galway Arts Centre.
Initial works will begin next month and construction is due to begin in June just after the departure of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Three cinemas are incorporated in the design – a 176-seater at basement level, a 77-seater on the second floor and a 105-seater on the third floor including 28 seats on the balcony.
The cinemas, equipped for 35mm and digital projection, will screen films of the “widest cultural diversity and will offer programmes that are innovative in form and challenging in content,” the city council says.
“Programmes will include Irish-made films, films in the Irish language, European and independent feature films, documentaries, animation, classic films as well as thematic, archival and retrospective cinema. Special emphasis will be given to educational screenings and matinee opportunities for diverse audiences,” it says.
The development includes a cafe and a bar area, a book and DVD shop and an online archive link to the National Film Archive and “specialist online cinema resources”, the council says.
The project was earmarked in the current city development plan which recognised a “deficit of culture and arts infrastructure in the city”. The authority has acquired additional property in the area as part of its “cultural quarter” plans, incorporating the new cinema and the existing city museum.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The 350-seat cinema is being developed on Merchant’s Road, close to the docks. The project has been initiated in partnership with Solas, comprising Galway Film Society, Galway Film Fleadh, Galway Film Centre and Galway Arts Centre.
Initial works will begin next month and construction is due to begin in June just after the departure of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Three cinemas are incorporated in the design – a 176-seater at basement level, a 77-seater on the second floor and a 105-seater on the third floor including 28 seats on the balcony.
The cinemas, equipped for 35mm and digital projection, will screen films of the “widest cultural diversity and will offer programmes that are innovative in form and challenging in content,” the city council says.
“Programmes will include Irish-made films, films in the Irish language, European and independent feature films, documentaries, animation, classic films as well as thematic, archival and retrospective cinema. Special emphasis will be given to educational screenings and matinee opportunities for diverse audiences,” it says.
The development includes a cafe and a bar area, a book and DVD shop and an online archive link to the National Film Archive and “specialist online cinema resources”, the council says.
The project was earmarked in the current city development plan which recognised a “deficit of culture and arts infrastructure in the city”. The authority has acquired additional property in the area as part of its “cultural quarter” plans, incorporating the new cinema and the existing city museum.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 28 December 2007
City bosses unveil plan for new cultural quarter
A cultural quarter is to be developed by Galway City Council, close to the heart of the City of the Tribes.
The local authority has just completed the purchase of two adjoining properties at Lower Merchant's Road, not far from the Galway Museum and a proposed arthouse cinema.
Galway City Manager Joe McGrath said that the new properties and the development of the arthouse cinema would provide an opportunity to create a cultural quarter in what was one of the oldest parts of Galway.
He expected that, in time, it would become a popular attraction with the city's annual influx of tourists.
The proposals for the Lower Merchant's Road area are to be presented for approval to the City Council in the New Year.
Brian McDonald
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The local authority has just completed the purchase of two adjoining properties at Lower Merchant's Road, not far from the Galway Museum and a proposed arthouse cinema.
Galway City Manager Joe McGrath said that the new properties and the development of the arthouse cinema would provide an opportunity to create a cultural quarter in what was one of the oldest parts of Galway.
He expected that, in time, it would become a popular attraction with the city's annual influx of tourists.
The proposals for the Lower Merchant's Road area are to be presented for approval to the City Council in the New Year.
Brian McDonald
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Public to view plan for Galway station
The public will be able to view the most recent plan for the €1 billion redevelopment of Galway's rail and bus station during two open days which are to take place in the city next week.
Planning consultants will be available to answer questions and hear submissions concerning the proposed transformation of Ceannt station.
More detailed plans will be available than at the initial launch in February, when outrage was expressed in some quarters after it emerged that 800 new apartments would be included in the development.
CIÉ has rejected claims that it is attempting to fast-track the plans through the normal planning process by going directly to An Bord Pleanála, rather than to the city council.
A spokesman, Barry Kenny, rejected claims from Michael D Higgins TD (Labour) that the Galway site was being "yielded" to property speculators while public transport needs in Dublin and other areas were being paid for from Government funds.
Mr Kenny said the newly opened Adamstown (Dublin) and Midleton (Cork) stations were being funded by "public-private partnerships" in tandem with developers.
"Isn't it great that we are going to be able to develop a world-class public transport interchange and not have the taxpayer pay for it?" said Mr Kenny yesterday.
He claimed the revamped station, which would include three rail platforms and 25 bus bays, would cater for significant expansion of the city in the longer-term.
However, Mr Higgins said the 800 apartments proposed for the site could block off the entrance to a future commuter rail link to Oranmore and Renmore on the east side of the city.
He accused CIÉ of reneging on promises that it would undertake a feasibility study for the introduction of a light-rail system for the city.
© 2007 The Irish Times
Planning consultants will be available to answer questions and hear submissions concerning the proposed transformation of Ceannt station.
More detailed plans will be available than at the initial launch in February, when outrage was expressed in some quarters after it emerged that 800 new apartments would be included in the development.
CIÉ has rejected claims that it is attempting to fast-track the plans through the normal planning process by going directly to An Bord Pleanála, rather than to the city council.
A spokesman, Barry Kenny, rejected claims from Michael D Higgins TD (Labour) that the Galway site was being "yielded" to property speculators while public transport needs in Dublin and other areas were being paid for from Government funds.
Mr Kenny said the newly opened Adamstown (Dublin) and Midleton (Cork) stations were being funded by "public-private partnerships" in tandem with developers.
"Isn't it great that we are going to be able to develop a world-class public transport interchange and not have the taxpayer pay for it?" said Mr Kenny yesterday.
He claimed the revamped station, which would include three rail platforms and 25 bus bays, would cater for significant expansion of the city in the longer-term.
However, Mr Higgins said the 800 apartments proposed for the site could block off the entrance to a future commuter rail link to Oranmore and Renmore on the east side of the city.
He accused CIÉ of reneging on promises that it would undertake a feasibility study for the introduction of a light-rail system for the city.
© 2007 The Irish Times
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Homes for all - water for no one
The Guardian has taken notice!
Poisoned locals, no holy water and worried tourists - Galway pays a high price for the economic boom
It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe. Tens of thousands of foreign tourists flock every summer to what has been called the party capital of Ireland. The narrow streets are crammed with visitors in search of traditional bars and music.
Galway is also one of the wettest cities in Europe. Having been founded beside a sheltered harbour on the western coast, it is exposed to drenching downpours that blow in from the Atlantic. But for the past five weeks, however, no one has been able to drink what comes out of the local taps.
Visitors arriving at hotels are being handed bottles of mineral water. Some bars have stopped providing ice with whiskey or vodka, others have shipped in fresh supplies from Donegal. The crisis could last until July and the tourism industry is beginning to grow anxious amid rumours that visitors are cancelling their holidays.
Nearly 200 people have fallen ill after being infected by the cryptosporidium parasite that has contaminated large areas beyond the city and is threatening to spread into neighbouring counties. The city council is advising that tap water should not be used for brushing teeth, gargling, making ice or washing salads. Having a bath in it is, supposedly, less dangerous. The Archbishopric of Tuam has had to find an alternative source of holy water to bless in case it poisons parishioners.
For Ireland, a country covered in bogs and vast lakes, the dismal quality of its water has suddenly become an acute political embarrassment just as a general election is about to be called.
Shortly before Easter the EU Commission sent Dublin two final warnings about poor water standards and inadequate controls over sewage discharges. If there is no dramatic improvement by the summer, the EU could impose daily fines until the necessary infrastructure improvements are completed.
Attempts by the environment department to blame local councils have enabled opposition parties to transform the water crisis into a question of governmental competence. The Green party is expected to make large gains at the polls; it already has five representatives in the Dail.
No one has so far traced the precise source of the Galway infection, but the massive expansion in new housing fuelled by the economic boom and the failure to upgrade sewage treatment facilities is being widely blamed.
Suspicions have focused on a sewage treatment plant at Oughterard, north of Galway, which pumps effluent into Lough Corrib. The Green party mayor of Galway, Niall Ó Brolcháin, claims the plant, built 60 years ago to cater for 250 houses, is unable to cope with the sewage from the now 800 homes in Oughterard that have spread out over the land. "Water services are at capacity and have been for some time," Mr Ó Brolcháin said. "Yet we are still continuing to develop more houses. That's wrong. That's why we are in this mess."
The Fianna Fáil environment minister, Dick Roche, has in turn attacked Galway city council for failing to use €21m (£14.2m) made available to upgrade another plant.
Tony Lowes, who works with the pressure group Friends of the Irish Environment that took the first complaints about water quality to the EU, said yesterday that the pollution problem was extensive because water sources have not been protected as housing and intensive farming methods have spread. There have been recent cryptosporidium outbreaks in Waterford and Monaghan; other towns at other times have had to recommend tap water be boiled.
"We are in a primitive situation," Mr Lowes warned. "The sources of our water and our lakes are getting more and more polluted. It's obvious in the increase in algae blooms.
"Because of the economic boom people have been punching holes in the aquifers and leaving them unprotected. There's been over-development and inadequate sewage infrastructure. Farmers use small watercourses and the slurry flows into water supplies.
"There's no inspection test for new houses and septic tanks. Percolation tests [supposed to show how groundwater drains away] have been provided by the [housing] developers."
Irish landowners believe they are entitled to build wherever they want, Mr Lowes said.
An EU Commission spokesman in Brussels confirmed that "Ireland has one of the worst water qualities in Europe". A case was first taken against the republic in 2002. "The overall level of contaminated supplies has gone down but it's still a high number," he said. "The Irish situation has been pretty bad."
The cryptosporidium parasite can cause severe diarrhoea, fever and vomiting. The Galway Advertiser and other Irish newspapers feature pictures of locals queuing at supermarkets weighed down by heavy flagons of mineral water. This week the city council introduced a buy-one-bottle, get-one-free scheme to help cut costs.
The phrase "water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink" - taken from Coleridge's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner - has featured in many despairing comments. At least 90,000 homes are affected. But there is also growing anger over the realisation that numerous warnings have been ignored. A group of anglers on Lough Corrib who took their concerns about human and animal sewage damaging fish stocks to the environment department three years ago has claimed they were dismissed as "tree-hugging flat-earthers".
In a letter to The Irish Times this month the Irish environment minister, Dick Roche, declared: "The reality [is] that legal and practical responsibility for delivering a clean water supply to households in Galway lies with Galway city council.
"Funding was made available to Galway city council to replace its old Terryland water plant. The inability of the old plant to produce potable water is a key factor in the current problems in Galway city and the surrounding area."
Ireland's environmental protection agency, which only last month was given powers to prosecute local authorities over poor quality drinking water, said it was working with Galway to solve the infection.
"We will be looking at [prosecution] if needs be," a spokeswoman said.
Explainer: Housing growth
The practice of covering the Irish countryside with new homes was originally derided as 'bungalow blight'.
The long-running property boom associated with the republic's new-found prosperity has added to the pressure on infrastructure.
More than 93,000 homes and apartments were completed last year, double the number than as recently as 1999.
The housing stock has increased by 50% in the past decade.
Developers may be responding to a demand for rural lifestyles, but council officials in Wicklow, immediately south of Dublin, have introduced a ban on building in local towns and villages.
According to Friends of the Earth, when the European environment agency studied satellite images of Ireland, the republic looked like it had 'measles'.
Owen Bowcott
© The Guardian
Poisoned locals, no holy water and worried tourists - Galway pays a high price for the economic boom
It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe. Tens of thousands of foreign tourists flock every summer to what has been called the party capital of Ireland. The narrow streets are crammed with visitors in search of traditional bars and music.
Galway is also one of the wettest cities in Europe. Having been founded beside a sheltered harbour on the western coast, it is exposed to drenching downpours that blow in from the Atlantic. But for the past five weeks, however, no one has been able to drink what comes out of the local taps.
Visitors arriving at hotels are being handed bottles of mineral water. Some bars have stopped providing ice with whiskey or vodka, others have shipped in fresh supplies from Donegal. The crisis could last until July and the tourism industry is beginning to grow anxious amid rumours that visitors are cancelling their holidays.
Nearly 200 people have fallen ill after being infected by the cryptosporidium parasite that has contaminated large areas beyond the city and is threatening to spread into neighbouring counties. The city council is advising that tap water should not be used for brushing teeth, gargling, making ice or washing salads. Having a bath in it is, supposedly, less dangerous. The Archbishopric of Tuam has had to find an alternative source of holy water to bless in case it poisons parishioners.
For Ireland, a country covered in bogs and vast lakes, the dismal quality of its water has suddenly become an acute political embarrassment just as a general election is about to be called.
Shortly before Easter the EU Commission sent Dublin two final warnings about poor water standards and inadequate controls over sewage discharges. If there is no dramatic improvement by the summer, the EU could impose daily fines until the necessary infrastructure improvements are completed.
Attempts by the environment department to blame local councils have enabled opposition parties to transform the water crisis into a question of governmental competence. The Green party is expected to make large gains at the polls; it already has five representatives in the Dail.
No one has so far traced the precise source of the Galway infection, but the massive expansion in new housing fuelled by the economic boom and the failure to upgrade sewage treatment facilities is being widely blamed.
Suspicions have focused on a sewage treatment plant at Oughterard, north of Galway, which pumps effluent into Lough Corrib. The Green party mayor of Galway, Niall Ó Brolcháin, claims the plant, built 60 years ago to cater for 250 houses, is unable to cope with the sewage from the now 800 homes in Oughterard that have spread out over the land. "Water services are at capacity and have been for some time," Mr Ó Brolcháin said. "Yet we are still continuing to develop more houses. That's wrong. That's why we are in this mess."
The Fianna Fáil environment minister, Dick Roche, has in turn attacked Galway city council for failing to use €21m (£14.2m) made available to upgrade another plant.
Tony Lowes, who works with the pressure group Friends of the Irish Environment that took the first complaints about water quality to the EU, said yesterday that the pollution problem was extensive because water sources have not been protected as housing and intensive farming methods have spread. There have been recent cryptosporidium outbreaks in Waterford and Monaghan; other towns at other times have had to recommend tap water be boiled.
"We are in a primitive situation," Mr Lowes warned. "The sources of our water and our lakes are getting more and more polluted. It's obvious in the increase in algae blooms.
"Because of the economic boom people have been punching holes in the aquifers and leaving them unprotected. There's been over-development and inadequate sewage infrastructure. Farmers use small watercourses and the slurry flows into water supplies.
"There's no inspection test for new houses and septic tanks. Percolation tests [supposed to show how groundwater drains away] have been provided by the [housing] developers."
Irish landowners believe they are entitled to build wherever they want, Mr Lowes said.
An EU Commission spokesman in Brussels confirmed that "Ireland has one of the worst water qualities in Europe". A case was first taken against the republic in 2002. "The overall level of contaminated supplies has gone down but it's still a high number," he said. "The Irish situation has been pretty bad."
The cryptosporidium parasite can cause severe diarrhoea, fever and vomiting. The Galway Advertiser and other Irish newspapers feature pictures of locals queuing at supermarkets weighed down by heavy flagons of mineral water. This week the city council introduced a buy-one-bottle, get-one-free scheme to help cut costs.
The phrase "water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink" - taken from Coleridge's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner - has featured in many despairing comments. At least 90,000 homes are affected. But there is also growing anger over the realisation that numerous warnings have been ignored. A group of anglers on Lough Corrib who took their concerns about human and animal sewage damaging fish stocks to the environment department three years ago has claimed they were dismissed as "tree-hugging flat-earthers".
In a letter to The Irish Times this month the Irish environment minister, Dick Roche, declared: "The reality [is] that legal and practical responsibility for delivering a clean water supply to households in Galway lies with Galway city council.
"Funding was made available to Galway city council to replace its old Terryland water plant. The inability of the old plant to produce potable water is a key factor in the current problems in Galway city and the surrounding area."
Ireland's environmental protection agency, which only last month was given powers to prosecute local authorities over poor quality drinking water, said it was working with Galway to solve the infection.
"We will be looking at [prosecution] if needs be," a spokeswoman said.
Explainer: Housing growth
The practice of covering the Irish countryside with new homes was originally derided as 'bungalow blight'.
The long-running property boom associated with the republic's new-found prosperity has added to the pressure on infrastructure.
More than 93,000 homes and apartments were completed last year, double the number than as recently as 1999.
The housing stock has increased by 50% in the past decade.
Developers may be responding to a demand for rural lifestyles, but council officials in Wicklow, immediately south of Dublin, have introduced a ban on building in local towns and villages.
According to Friends of the Earth, when the European environment agency studied satellite images of Ireland, the republic looked like it had 'measles'.
Owen Bowcott
© The Guardian
Saturday, 17 February 2007
Quarry contract
This from the Connaught Tribune:
Galway City Council has been urged not to enter into a new supply contract with a quarry against which it has taken High Court proceedings in relation to alleged breaches of its planning permission.
Galway City Council has been urged not to enter into a new supply contract with a quarry against which it has taken High Court proceedings in relation to alleged breaches of its planning permission.
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