City Council appeals for Galway City Ring Road engagement
Senior management in Galway City Council has pleaded with opponents of the Ring Road to engage with the local authority rather than lodging a judicial review to quash planning permission for the project granted last week.
Chief Executive of Galway City Council Leonard Cleary said that after three decades, approval for the project by An Coimisiún Pleanála last Thursday was “very welcome news”.
He said anyone with concerns about the Ring Road should “bring them to the team” dealing with the project, rather than lodging a judicial review in the first instance to overturn the decision.
Mr Cleary pointed to the Dublin Road Bus Connects project in Galway City, which was approved without a judicial review due to dialogue and engagement and said he hoped the Galway City Ring Road could proceed without legal challenge on that basis.
At Monday’s Galway City Council meeting, Director of Services for Project Development, Derek Pender pledged that the authorities – including the Ring Road lead agency Galway County Council – would engage with affected homeowners and landowners.
Mr Pender, who was a senior engineer in Galway County Council working on this project in 2018, said he had met with more than 30 of the 54 homeowners whose homes will be lost to make way for this road. They were the “most difficult and emotive meetings” he had ever had in his career.
They were the “most difficult and emotive meetings”
Mr Cleary said the Council would now “enter the listening process and the steering process”.
It’s understood that opponents would have to lodge a judicial review within eight weeks of the decision.
The Ring Road project approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála is an 18km orbital route stretching from the end of the M6 at Coolagh to a point west of Bearna.
It includes 5.6km of single carriageway, 11.9km of dual carriageway, a new bridge over the River Corrib, two viaducts (at the University’s Sporting Campus and at Menlough), two tunnels (including one beneath Lough Corrib SAC near Lackagh Quarry and one under part of Galway Racecourse).
It will involve the demolition of 44 homes, and the acquisition of 10 more; the demolition of two industrial properties and two commercial properties; the demolition of a protected structure; and the acquisition of 17 farm buildings. The project also includes four main link roads, including two on the N59 and one each at Parkmore and Tuam Road.
I am satisfied that the public have been adequately consulted
There will be ten underbridges, and seven overbridges as well as multiple side roads, junctions and roundabouts.
An Coimisúin Pleanála’s Inspector’s Report said the imperative for the proposed Ring Road “is clearly identified in national, regional and local transport and planning policies”.
It said the road's proximity to residential areas meant demolition and property acquisition was “unavoidable given the geography of the area and settlement pattern”.
“I am satisfied that the public have been adequately consulted and that the applicant has complied with statutory and non-statutory requirements,” the Inspector's Report said.
Government has vowed to fund the project, which is now estimated will cost in excess of €1 billion.
In a joint statement Galway City and County Councils and Transport Infrastructure Ireland said the N6 Galway City Ring Road was a “core component of the wider transport solution for Galway City and County, complementing BusConnects, ongoing rail enhancements, Active Travel and the continued delivery of other major transport initiatives under the Galway Transport Strategy”.
They acknowledged that the prolonged planning process “has been very difficult for home and property owners affected by the proposed route” and vowed to proceed to the next stage of the project, including “detailed design, preparation of contract documentation and the procurement process”.