Planners with Galway City Council have told the developers of a proposed student accommodation complex in Terryland to scale back an “excessive” rooftop plant room on one of the blocks, and asked for a noise impact report on the equipment that will be in place.

Already, almost 40 objections to the plans have been received from local residents – including the Crestwood Residents’ Association and Tirellan Residents’ Association – over “visually obtrusive” buildings, lack of car parking spaces and the existing high-density student population in the area.

In 2020, Montane Developments (Ireland) ULC was granted permission to construct two blocks – ranging from one to four storeys in height – on the triangular 2.75-acre site beside the Crestwood estate on the Coolough Road.

There were to be 248 single bedrooms divided into 37 clusters. The plans also included a communal laundry; gym/fitness centre and a seminar area.

Subsequently last December, under new Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) legislation, the company applied for planning permission to increase the number of bedrooms to 257, with 13 of them being accessible units.

In its objection, the Crestwood Residents’ Association (CRA) expressed concerns about the sheer scale and size of the development alongside the one and two-storey houses in Crestwood and Tirellan Heights. They noted that while the Menlo Park Hotel and Apartments are three-storey, there is a larger gap between those buildings and houses, and they are not as imposing due to the land topography.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the March 22 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.