CITY TRIBUNE
Oranhill park plan falls flat
A warning of the potential for legal action – and possibly even a judicial review of the County Development Plan – led Galway County Councillors to change their minds on plans to rezone land in Oranhill, Oranmore.
After a lengthy debate at their meeting last week, councillors voted to keep the land zoned ‘Residential Phase 1’ as per the Draft Galway County Development Plan 2022-28.
This was accepting the advice of Chief Executive Jim Cullen and the Office of Planning Regulator.
It was also a reversal of the decision elected members had made at meetings in December and January, when they voted to zone the land Open Space/Recreation and Amenity.
That rezoning followed a series of public meetings and a campaign by residents in Oranhill, which was lacking in recreational space and amenities.
When councillors voted to rezone the land away from Residential, they did so when it was in the ownership of the State, through NAMA.
But Valerie Loughnane, Executive Planner, confirmed to the latest Council meeting that since then, the land was sold to a private developer.
That developer had bought the land with planning permission for houses and intended to build them.
She warned councillors that a commencement notice had been issued, which was valid, the builder was on-site last week, and there was a live planning permission for houses on that site up to 2026.
Ms Loughnane warned elected members that if they followed through on the Open Space/R&A rezoning, then Galway County Council’s development plan could be the subject of a judicial review. She cited a case in Meath, where the local authority was facing five judicial reviews over its county development plan, including one rezoning decision which was very similar to the Oranhill site.
The meeting heard that the sale from NAMA to the developer went through in March.
Mr Cullen said that nobody could be certain what would happen if they voted against his advice but he warned it created a risk of legal action.
If that happened, the County Council staff would be in a position where they would be forced to defend something in court that they did not support.
Cllr Martina Kinnane (FF) said the site was idle for 18 years, and the people of Oranhill were crying out for facilities. “Not one swing or any play facilities have been provided in those 18 years,” she said.
Cllr PJ Murphy (FG) said he voted with Cllr Kinnane earlier this year on this rezoning, “but since then all has changed, changed utterly”.
It was owned by NAMA, but it is now owned by a private developer, planning permission was in place, and a valid commencement notice was issued, he said.
Nearly every councillor who spoke said that Oranhill needed recreation and amenity, and planners agreed, but many councillors who voted for the rezoning earlier this year, said they did so because it was owned by the State, through NAMA.
Cllr Tom Curran (RSF) said NAMA had “reneged” and should not have sold the land.
But Ms Loughanne said that NAMA was set up to bailout banks during the crash; as a result of that, it got lands, which it had a duty to manage, including sell, in the best interests of getting a maximum return for taxpayers.
Mr Cullen said there was “no justification” to remove the Residential Phase 1 zoning, and he advised councillors to revert to that zoning.
Cllr Kinnane proposed a motion, seconded by Cllr Geraldine Donoghue (Ind), to reject that recommendation but it was defeated. Eleven voted for her proposal (to rezone it Open Space/R&A) 19 voted against, and there were eight abstentions.
Meanwhile, later in the meeting, Councillors Kinnane and Donohue voted in favour of rezoning land in Oranmore from Open Space/Recreational and Amenity to Residential Phase 2, which Cllr Jimmy McClearn (FG) said was “contradictory” to their previous position.
Cllr McClearn, from Portumna, said he did not know the area but it seemed to him, from the earlier debate, that Oranhill needed recreational land not more residential land. “I recognise a contradiction when I see it,” he said.
Both Councillors Kinnane and Donohue denied this and outlined their reasons for voting to rezone the parcel of land from Open Space/Recreation and Amenity to Residential Phase 2, which only comes into play when all Residential Phase 1 lands are developed or unavailable.
Cllr Kinnane said the site was “too far” from Oranhill but Cllr Liam Carroll (FG) said the site in question was “less than 100 metres” from the site in Oranhill that they had debated earlier.
He said it “would be an advantage” to retain it as Open Space/R&A and could be used to build recreation facilities for the people living in Oranhill.
Cllr Alastair McKinstry (Green) insisted that Oranhill “needs recreational and amenity lands”.
Cllr Kinnane’s proposal, to reject the recommendation of the CE and OPR, and to rezone the Open Space/R&A lands to Residential Phase 2, was passed with 20 votes in favour, eleven against, four abstentions and three councillors’ votes were not recorded.
Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley
Galway City Councillors will resume deliberations on the Draft City Development Plan in June, which means two things: long meetings and an even longer list of abbreviations.
The former is a given when rezoning of land is at play; the latter is also likely if the City Plan mirrors the recently-agreed County Development Plan which contained an alphabet soup of shortened phrases.
From ABTA (Area Based Transport Assessment) to MASP (Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan), NWSMP (National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan) to GCTPS (Galway County Transport and Planning Study), and GCMA (Galway County Metropolitan Area) to UFP (Urban Framework Plan) to name but a few, County Councillors were bombarded with shorthand as they compiled a new Development Plan.
And that’s before you mention the myriad of organisations OPR (Office of Planning Regulator), OPW (Office of Public Works), NTA (National Transport Authority), TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) who were making submissions about MAs (Material Alterations), WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plants), LAPs (Local Area Plans), and LTP (Local Transport Plans) etcetera.
County Councillors needed qualifications in abbreviations and gobbledegook just to keep up with it all; many are now suffering a sort of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and the DTs (Delirium Tremens) or AWD (Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium) since they finalised the plan, but that’s all due to withdrawal from abbreviations rather than alcohol.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Legendary singer/songwriter Andy Irvine will play the Gig Room in the Kinvara Community Centre next Saturday, May 28, at 8pm.
With an impressive repertoire of Irish songs and Balkan dance tunes, he is renowned for his unique fusion of Irish and World music.
Andy’s musical career took off when he joined Sweeney’s Men in 1965, touring extensively with them before leaving in 1968 to pursue his own musical journey. That took him to Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia, as he studied the music and traditions of these places.
During this time, he began playing the bouzouki professionally, as it allowed him to develop his own style while deepening his knowledge of Balkan music.
Back in Ireland Andy founded the now-legendary Planxty with Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and Liam O’ Flynn. When the group took a break in 1967, he recorded an album with Paul Brady, simply entitled Andy Irvine & Paul Brady, which became a classic.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
The world premiere of E-Bow, a work for string quartet and electric guitar by composer Dave Flynn, will take place this Sunday, May 22, at 3pm at the O’Donoghue Theatre, NUIG. Admission is free and all are welcome.
E-Bow will be performed by Galway’s quartet in residence, ConTempo, and Dave Flynn himself. A work in three movements, it plays with the tradition of the guitar quintet, which dates back to the late 18th century, but brings it in new directions by using an electric guitar with the addition of an e-bow.
This is a hand-held electronic bow invented by Greg Heet in 1969 and patented in 1978, after which it became an essential tool for rock guitarists. Performers including Blondie, U2, Radiohead, Big Country, Genesis, Pink Floyd and R.E.M. have used them, but e-bows are less common in classical music because they don’t work on nylon-string classical guitars.
The work was co-commissioned by long-term commissioning partners Galway Music Residency (GMR) and Galway City Council and is being presented as part of Arts in Action, by GMR, in association with Dublin’s Contemporary Music Centre.
Sunday’s show will also include a performance of Philip Glass’ Mishima, arranged for string quartet and electric guitar, with special permission from the composer. Philip Glass composed this piece for the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, about Japanese author Yukio Mishima who died in November 1970 after performing Seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment).
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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