The way has been cleared for the building of a new school for St Joseph’s College, The Bish, after An Bord Pleanála rejected appeals against the granting of planning permission for the 1,000-student facility in Dangan.

Galway City Council gave the go-ahead for the school last June, but that decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by local residents Michael and Catherine McDonnell, Angela Lawless and Evan Molloy.

They maintained that the site was unsuitable to locate a school of this size, with implications for traffic congestion and cars parking in local estates.

The proposed development, on a sloping site close to the University of Galway sports campus off the Galway-Clifden Road, will involve the construction of a modern 11,134 square metre school to include classrooms, a PE/multi-purpose Hall, a two- classroom Special Needs Unit and specialist room accommodation.

The almost 4-acre site has been secured by the school as part of a land-swap agreement with the University of Galway, which will take ownership of the Nuns’ Island site, currently accommodating more than 750 students, once the new school is built.

Among the grounds of appeal by residents of the wider area were their contention that the site size was below the recommended guidelines of the Department of Education, pointing out that the recommended site size for a school of 1,000 students was 11.3 acres – but the actual site size was 4 acres.

They also claimed that the proposed school would cause significant commuter tailbacks along the N59, expressed concern about the use of local housing estates by parents for drop off and collection and that the level of car parking was unlikely to meet the needs of staff and students.

The objectors further warned that site was outside the city’s public bus network, with no future proposals to service public transport in the area of the new school, while bicycle lanes were not an option on the heavily trafficked N59 or Circular Road, which meant the only reasonable method for the majority of children to access school was by car.