Cyclists seek redesign of Ardaun suburb plan
Cycling campaigners have urged Galway City Council to abandon half of the planned urban village of Ardaun and completely redesign roads in the other part or risk creating yet another “inherently car dependent and unsustainable” suburb.
In one of 14 submissions to planners on the material alterations in the draft Ardaun Local Area Plan (LAP), Shane Foran of the Galway Cycling Campaign pulls no punches in lambasting the design, saying it “defies belief”.
The plan, which will be the planning blueprint for the area of major city growth until 2024, is located on the east side of the city on a largely greenfield site of 164 hectares (405 acres) while adjacent to most of the big employers in Parkmore, Ballybrit and near the Galway Clinic and Merlin Park Hospital.
With Galway City projected to grow to 96,700 people by 2022, the plan estimates that Ardaun could accommodate over 8,000 of this population target. The first phase, Ardaun South, is projected to have 1,098 units and support an estimated population of 2,987.
It aims to create a new community and business district within the city, “incorporating sustainable densities underpinned by the accommodation of sustainable transport modes, supporting facilities and services”.
“A key role and function of Ardaun, as identified in the city plan, is to strategically rebalance settlement patterns in the city and to facilitate increased co-location of living and working areas within the city, thereby minimising travel demand and providing for urban consolidation.”
However, the entire design is flawed and completely dominated by car-centric thinking, insists Mr Foran.
“The nature of the roads surrounding the site is incompatible with the relevant guidance such as the National Cycle Policy Framework, the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets and the NTA [National Transport Authority] Permeability Best Practice Guide.
“As such in its current form this location at Ardaun is not suitable for residential development, unless significant remedial action is taken, the local area plan should be set aside in favour of finding a more suitable location.”
Mr Foran states that proposed access in and out of Ardaun through roundabouts and slip roads is wholly incompatible with residential development.
“The proposed integrated sustainable urban community has been cut in two. The southern portion of the Ardaun lands have now been cut off by what could be best characterised as a ring of steel formed by the motorway and the dual carriageways.”
He notes that the bus corridor “through Merlin Park to Park to Eastern bypass at proposed M6 link via new slip road” is stated as also for use by cyclists. Yet it is to join the N6 dual carriageway via slip roads at the Coolagh Roundabout that marks the end of the M6.
“The idea that cyclists trying to access or leave Ardaun would be required to merge across traffic and use slip roads simply defies belief,” he exclaims.
“It is hard to see how the southern section of Ardaun could be viably integrated into the wider city or even the
adjacent communities of Roscam, Doughska and Briarhill/Coolough. The nature of the surrounding roads infrastructure creates a location where motorist travel will be imposed for most who wish to travel outside of south Ardaun.
“Without a radical revision of the adjacent roads, the best option may be to abandon the southern section of Ardaun as a location for development and focus on other areas of the city,” said the cycling campaigner.
The draft Ardaun LAP states that it is anticipated that the area will have an estimated population of 9,500. However, in the material alteration the population is revised, predicting to grow to 12,621.
The Department of Education & Skills says in that case instead of reserving sites for two primary schools and two secondary schools, the plan should set aside room for an additional 16 classroom school in the area to meet this extra projected growth and cater for 1,515 school-going primary school children.
Pale Horizon, the owner of a land bank of 40.7 hectares (100 acres) in South Ardaun – headed up by Galway developers Tim Lee McDonagh, Ronan Daly and Paul Kelly – welcomed changes to the rezoning over two hectares of land – changing one parcel under overhead powerlines from residential to recreational and the second plot to the east of land earmarked for community and educational use to residential.
The developers also welcomed the change to increase from 70% to 80% the amount of land in the urban village centre zoning that can be dedicated to residential use.
Both the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and the NTA (National Transport Authority) called on the Council to incorporate an ‘area based transport assessment’ into the plan once it was completed, revising it later if necessary.
Senior planner in Galway City Council Caroline Phelan said the local authority was currently preparing a report summarising the observations and outlining the planners’ recommendations.
The final decision on the plan rests with councillors, who will vote on its adoption or rejection at the April 9 meeting.
“The only area open for consideration now are the material alterations – the rest of the plan has been deemed acceptable and cannot be revisited in April,” remarked Ms Phelan.