By Brendan Carroll

An appeal by neighbours against the granting of planning permission for a seven-storey apartments block, on a site between Forster Street and Lough Atalia, has been rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

Patrick Ryan was granted permission by Galway City Council in February 2022 to build a six-storey plus penthouse level apartment building comprising 18 units at the rear of Forster Street House, a protected structure, and fronting onto to Lough Atalia Road.

An appeal against the plans, for 12 two-bedroom and six one-bedroom apartments, was lodged with An Bord Pleanála in March 2022 by Hilary and Leonie Heskin of 6 College Road, who live beside the site.

They said that while they were not opposed to an apartment development, they were strongly opposed to the development which had been granted planning permission, claiming the proposed seven storey building was much too high, at 24 metres.

“There has been an erosion of the quality of the townscape and general environment of the Lough Atalia Road area in recent years as a result of increasing levels of traffic and piecemeal residential development.

“Allowing a 7-storey apartment block to be built on a site constrained by its position within the curtilage of a listed house would likely set a precedent for 7-storey development over the entire residential area,” the appellants said in their submission to the planning appeals board.

They claimed that, in granting permission, Galway City Council had not given sufficient regard to the zoning objective of its own development plan, had misapplied government guidance on urban development, and had given insufficient attention to protecting established residential amenity and enhancing local character.

Pictured: A computer-generated image of how the apartments fronting onto Lough Atalia will look, with the Galmont Hotel in the foreground.