Galway County Council has become just the second local authority in the country to launch an online pre-planning enquiry system.

The comprehensive new portal enables members of the public, planning agents and Elected Members to generate a free report for a proposed site boundary in County Galway, which will collate common planning information relating to land use zonings, flood risk, protected structures and other topics.

The information will be particularly beneficial in assisting with the preparation of a planning application for permission or with deciding on whether a pre-planning meeting may be required.

The free-of-charge system was unveiled this week by Cllr. Liam Carroll, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, and Cllr. Mary Hoade, Chair of the Planning SPC, and is the first bilingual local authority pre-planning enquiry system to be launched in Ireland.

Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council acknowledged the GIS and Planning Departments of the Local Authority for their work on the project and confirmed that workshops to encourage the public to engage with the system will be announced during the coming weeks.

Liam Hanrahan, Director of Services with Galway County Council commented, “We urge the public, planning agents and Councillors to use the system, which will help with accuracy and will provide applicants with a good basis for assessing project cost, viability and issues of concern.”

The bi-lingual pre-planning website can be accessed at galway.preplanning.ie/en.