Plans for housing on the controversial Corrib Great Southern site are on hold until Galway City Council completes its retail strategy.

That’s according to Trigo Property Company Ltd, part of the Comer Property Group, co-owners of the site with the McHale Group’s Welcorrib Ltd.

Calls for redevelopment of the site of the now demolished Corrib Great Southern Hotel have been ongoing throughout the deepening housing crisis – exacerbated by the derelict state of the former hotel before its demolition got underway in 2021.

In the correspondence seen by the Galway City Tribune, Trigo state that a requirement of the City Development Plan is that 50% of any development on the site must be residential, while neighbourhood facilities and community facilities must also be included.

“Importantly, we highlight the zoning objectives seeking to deliver neighbourhood and community facilities on the site necessitates the provision of retail uses as part of the site’s development.”

Under the Development Plan, the location of the site is pointed to as requiring several components to secure planning permission.

Trigo has argued that until a retail strategy, which is committed to in the City Development Plan, is finalised, development is prohibited on the site.

“At this stage, given the Retail Strategy for the Galway Metropolitan Area has not been finalised, a planning application to develop the lands would be premature and not plan-led until such times as a retail strategy is adopted.”
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