Plans for thousands of houses on the east side of the city have been thrown into jeopardy by the withdrawal of a planning application to improve the area’s water infrastructure.

Uisce Éireann this week withdrew an application which was under consideration by An Bord Pleanála to construct an almost one million-litre wastewater storage tank at Merlin Park Pumping Station.

This followed an An Taisce appeal of permission granted by Galway City Council. The organisation had cited concerns that application rubber stamped by city planners did not commit to providing adequate infrastructure for development on the east of the city, nor did it promise to rectify regular wastewater overflows that are entering Galway Bay at the Claddagh.

In a letter sent to the appellants this week, seen by the Galway City Tribune, An Bord Pleanála confirmed that the application had been withdrawn by Uisce Éireann.

Speaking to the Tribune, Chairperson of the An Taisce Galway Planning Committee, Peter Butler, said the news came as a surprise to the organisation which had expected Uisce Éireann to be able to explain how their proposal would work.

“This is not what we expected – we simply wanted to know what exactly the storage tank was going to do,” said Mr Butler.

“We welcome the tank – anything would be better than having discharges going into the Claddagh Basin. But we wanted to know how much capacity it would add exactly, and if it would stop the overflow,” he continued.

Photo: the existing pumping station at Merlin Park.

This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the October 6 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.