Development blueprint identifies key Galway towns
Tuam and Ballinasloe are to be the specific focus for development and infrastructural investment under a draft plan for economic development for the region – but the County Council’s Chief has dampened down expectations of boom, warning that any strategy for the region needs to be realistic.
Under the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES), Ballinasloe and Tuam have been identified as two ‘key towns’ in the county – areas that will see a targeted growth of at least 30 per cent in the next 20 years.
But the Acting CEO of Galway County Council Kevin Kelly has warned that the current lack of appetite for development in the county could make these targets purely aspirational.
In the Northern and Western Regional Assembly’s draft plans, a key objective is to realise the potential of Ballinasloe as ‘a county town’ – providing for compact growth and the development of sites formerly used for industrial purposes, known as brownfield sites.
The revitalisation of Dunlo Street, Market Square, Society Street and Main Street is a key part of this, alongside a concerted effort to reduce the numbers of vacant properties and to “support the vitality and vibrancy of these core shopping streets/side streets and the town centre”.
In Tuam, the focus is on providing the necessary infrastructure and services for the surrounding small towns and villages and ensuring “existing businesses are supported in their continued growth in a balanced and cohesive manner”.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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