An appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against the granting of planning permission for a 24-metre-high telecommunications mast on lands off the Cappagh Road, Barna.

A local resident is seeking to have the decision overturned, claiming that Galway City Council erred in giving the go-ahead to Vantage Towers to erect the structure as a replacement for an existing mast.

The company claimed that broadband and mobile phone coverage for a broad area would be lost unless it was given the go-ahead by planners.

The proposed mast would be used by the three network operators, Vodafone, eir and Three Ireland, and would provide improved services. It would also be available to other digital operators for additional services.

Last month, Galway City Council decided to grant planning permission for the new structure, to replace the company’s current mast, which sits on the path of the proposed route for the N6 Galway City Ring Road, despite two objections by neighbouring residents.

Planning permission for the existing structure expired in 2021 and was the subject of an Enforcement Notice from Galway City Council, a number of applications for extension of duration of permission and an unsuccessful appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

An appeal against the granting of permission for the new mast on an adjacent site has now been lodged with An Bord Pleanála by Cappagh Road resident Kevin Kelly, on several grounds

He pointed out that a future service road is proposed for when the current service road is cut off by the construction of the city ring road – on lands that Vantage Towers did not own and for which it had not provided evidence of consent from the owner, a prerequisite for making a planning application.

He further complained of the absence of an environmental impact statement, despite the fact that the area in question is deemed to be a Local Biodiversity Area under the current city Development plan – and said it was ‘absurd’ that the City Council’s planning report had not picked up on this fact.

Underground drains linked the area to the Galway Bay Special Area of Conservation, despite the applicants claiming that there was no direct link to a European Site under the Habitats Directive.

Mr Kelly added in his submission: “What is the point in having a Development Plan, Section 28 Ministerial Guidelines and planning laws enacted by the democratically elected Oireachtas if these are all to be ignored by an applicant for planning permission and a local authority at a whim.

“There has been repeated flouting and ignoring of the Development Plan, Section 28 Ministerial Guidelines and planning legislation by the applicant throughout all of the planning applications listed in Section 1 of this document and Galway City Council has enabled them every step of the way in not applying the law for the numerous reasons listed throughout this document.”

An Bord Pleanála is currently considering the appeal against the granting of planning permission for the erection of a 24m high telecommunications lattice structure with fencing and all associated site works including access tracks. It is due to make a decision by April 16.