The way has been cleared for the building of almost 230 apartments in the Rahoon/Knocknacarra area, following the failure of a High Court challenge to the development.

Galway City travel advocate Shane Foran had contested the decision by An Bord Pleanála (now An Coimisiún Pleanála) to approve the development at Gort na Bro.

Glenveagh Living Limited plans to build 227 apartments in seven blocks, ranging in height from three to five storeys,  on a six-acre site next to Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh, opposite the Gateway Retail Park.

The case brought by Mr Foran, who lives in Rahoon, also involved a challenge to the Minister for Transport over disputed road design guidance and the state’s Sustainable Mobility Policy.

In April 2024, An Bord Pleanála overturned a decision by Galway City Council to refuse permission for the Large-scale Residential Development, made up of 85 one-bed units, 139 two-bed units and three three-bed units.

Mr Foran sought a judicial review of that decision two months later, judgement of which was finally issued last Friday.

The case centred on traffic impacts and alleged deficiencies in the proposed road designs and on alleged negative impacts for cyclists using the roads through the site.

Under the N6 Ring Road proposals, one of the roads impacted by the development is to be repurposed to feed traffic, between the playing pitches and the school, to the new motorway.

In his High Court action, Mr Foran alleged that the planning board and the developer failed to have due regard for the traffic impact of the ring road proposals. The hearing took place in December.

Some proposed cycle facilities are only on one side of the road and Mr Foran argued that the implication of some elements of the design was that road space was being removed from cyclists, implying additional delay and inconvenience.

He also argued that the proposed cycle facilities failed to comply with the applicable guidance in that they mix pedestrians and cyclists at the junctions. This is alleged to cause avoidable conflicts between both groups and implies avoidable delay and inconvenience for people on bikes.

Official design guidance published by the NTA in 2023 describes the proposed designs as “not appropriate” for new build developments. Despite this the NTA had provided the developer with a letter stating that the design was in line with the new guidance.

Mr Justice David Holland, in his judgement, said that Mr Foran was “entirely genuine, convinced and civic-minded” in his disagreement with the planning approval decision, in relation to provision for cyclists.

“But he never got mentally to grips with the fact that the law makes the Commission, not the courts, the final decision-maker in planning appeals.

“The only exception is where the Commission’s decision is in some way illegal,” he added.

The court found that Mr Foran’s technical observations on the designs were inadmissible as evidence on the grounds that he was party to the proceedings and representing himself in court.

On that basis the court found that the evidence of the engineers for the developer stood as uncontradicted.

The court found that Mr Foran had failed to prove his assertions on whether the Planning Board had included traffic impacts from the proposed ring road in its considerations.

The court also took the view that the issue of impacts from the ring road should have been raised with the planning board during the planning process. Mr Foran “should have made, but failed to make, much of his present complaints to the Commission”.

Pictured: How the Knocknacarra development of more than 200 apartments built in seven blocks will look. The building at the bottom of the image is Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh. The Gateway Retail Park is to the right.