This article first appeared on Galway Bay FM
The green light has been given for a major student accommodation development at Coolough Road in the city.
The approval comes despite strong objections from local residents – as well as street protests last year.
The site is located near the junction of the Coolough Road and the Dyke Road.
The student accommodation complex would have 84 apartments across 7 blocks up to five storeys in height – offering a total of almost 600 bed spaces.
Amid strong local objections, many are keen to stress that they’re not against housing on these sites – but just not of this scale and nature.
Compounding their discontent is recent approval from An Bord Pleanala for a separate student block on a site across the road.
Locals are deeply unhappy about that – pointing out that between both plans, the transient student population would significantly outnumber the permanent local population.
With approval now forthcoming from city planners – they’ll have to take an appeal to An Bord Pleanala within the next four weeks if they wish to continue their fight.
