County bucks national trend with increase in planning approvals

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The county has bucked the national trend by recording an increase in the number of planning approvals in the first quarter of this year. Figures compiled by the Central Statistics Office show that the county recorded a 23 percent increase in the number of go-aheads when compared to the same period in 2013. The data records an average increase of 8 percent across the city and county with 208 permissions granted in quarter one this year, compared to 192 in the same period in 2013. However when broken down, the county and city figures reveal opposing trends. In the county, the number of planning permissions granted stands at 167 – that's a 23 percent increase when compared to Q1 in 2013. However the city trend is largely in line with the national picture where a decrease is recorded. In the city, the number of permissions granted in the first quarter this year stands at 41. This represents a 26 percent decrease on Q1 2013 when 56 planning applications were given the go-ahead. Nationally, planning was approved for over 1600 dwelling units, compared with over 2300 units for the same period in 2013 - a decrease of over 30%.