From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Planning permission has been granted for the construction of a new technology campus – with three office blocks and space for up to 1,500 workers – on lands in Rahoon.

Galway City Council has approved the €45 million ‘Westgate’ project on a 3.5-acre site bounded by Bóthar Stiofáin and Rahoon Road.

However, following concerns raised by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the National Transport Authority and residents in the area, the Council has stipulated that a parking control enforcement plan must be agreed with the local authority before construction work can begin on the site.

McDonogh Capital Investments – part of Thomas McDonogh & Sons – has secured permission to build an eight-storey office building of 7,330 square metres; a six-storey office block of 4,445 sq m; a four-storey office block of 2,875 sq m and a surface carpark with 167 spaces and parking for 216 bicycles.

The developers previously told the Galway City Tribune that the technology campus would create working space for up to 1,500 people and there are also plans to develop adjacent lands they own.

A total of thirteen objections and observations were submitted to the Council, with concerns about the height, scale and mass of the development; overlooking and overshadowing of residential properties; whether there is sufficient demand for office space; and overspill of parking into nearby estates.

In a submission, the National Transport Authority (NTA) said it was concerned that the level of carparking supports “will facilitate a high level of car dependency” and that the application did not make clear the projected number of employees.

“Consideration should be given to determining the quantum of car parking spaces by providing car parking for a limited percentage of the projected workforce in order to establish more sustainable transport patterns from the outset.”
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the March 29 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.