One of the country’s biggest homebuilders has been sent back to the drawing board on plans for a development in Rahoon – after Galway City Council raised “serious concerns” about the proposals and its impact on the proposed Ring Road route.

And Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has warned the development could “adversely effect the operation and safety of the national road network” as it would not meet national guidelines.

In May, Cairn Homes applied for planning permission to develop 148 residential units on a ten-acre site on the southern side of the Letteragh Road – the site surrounds the Breacán estate.

The application was made under new Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) legislation, and replaced a previous application under the now-defunct Strategic Housing Development (SHDs) process.

TII added that there were “inappropriate standards” in the plans which were not in accordance with national roads guidelines.

The local authority noted that none of the houses met the City Development Plan standards with regard to minimum distance between side gables and side boundaries. The Council said that despite advice at pre-planning stage, the balconies of apartments in one of the blocks were still protruding from the main body of the building – this needed to be redesigned to allow for partial shelter from prevailing winds.

“Serious concerns” were expressed about communal open space in the development and that it would not meet guidelines in terms of size and quality.
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