Galway’s two local authorities are looking to offload Galway Airport for development — but need councillors on both bodies to vote to approve it.

Galway County Council and Galway City Council this week put the property on the market — and invited ‘expressions of interest’ for this “development land” at Carnmore.

A buyer is being sought for the land — jointly owned by the two Councils — which comprises 118 acres or almost 48 hectares.

The Councils have employed two selling agents — Power Property and Keane Mahony Smith — to advertise expressions of interest in local and national media.

The Councils jointly purchased the property from Galway Chamber of Commerce in November 2013 for just €1.5 million. That was two years after commercial operations ceased in 2011 following the country’s economic crash.

It’s understood the site, with frontage onto three roads, remains un-zoned, and the Councils said it could have a “multiplicity of uses subject to zoning and planning”.

The Carnmore site was referred to as a “key opportunity site” that was “vital for the economic growth of the Galway Metropolitan Area”, in the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) 2020-2032 published by the Northern & Western Regional Assembly.

In a joint statement this week, the Councils said some city and county councillors were consulted about the plan to attract buyers for the land at a joint Corporate Policy Group (CPG) meeting.

Not all councillors are members of their respective CPGs, and it was not discussed at full Council meetings of either bodies — despite Galway County Council holding a plenary meeting on Monday of this week.

A spokesperson confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that any sale of the property — which includes a car park and two hangar buildings — would need to be voted on by councillors in both local authorities.

Caption: The former Galway Airport.

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