'Temporary' helipad becomes permanent as Galway Council backs Shantalla Park sale to HSE
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
THIRTEEN years after a temporary emergency helipad for University Hospital Galway (UHG) was approved at Shantalla Park for six months only, Galway City Council has voted to sell more than 3.6 acres of the park to the HSE for a permanent emergency heliport.
The decision marks a turnaround from the original plans in 2013, which stated the land would be returned to parkland after six months once construction of UHG's multi-storey car park was complete.
For many in Shantalla, the decision marks the permanent loss of part of a park that has served generations of local families since 1943 and the formal end of what began in 2013 as a temporary arrangement.
It clears the way for the expansion of UHG, despite strong opposition from residents and the Shantalla Park Action Group, who argued the parkland could have been preserved through an elevated heliport on the hospital campus.
The background:
When planning permission was sought in August 2013 for a temporary emergency helicopter landing facility at Shantalla Community Park, the proposal stated that the helipad would operate for approximately six months while construction of the hospital's multi-storey car park was underway.
The planning notice stated: "Once the decked car park is completed the area shall be returned to parkland."
Instead, the temporary helipad remained.
Monday's decision now paves the way for the HSE to own the land as part of plans for a new emergency heliport serving UHG.
For residents, it represents he permanent loss of a section of parkland they were told would be returned to the community.
The argument for:
The HSE says the relocation of the existing helipad is essential if UHG is to meet the healthcare needs of the West and North West.
As the region's main acute hospital, it serves around 350,000 people locally while also providing specialist care for almost 850,000 people across the West and North West.
According to the HSE, the current helipad is now the busiest medical helipad in Ireland, averaging more than 215 landings each year.
It was built as part of a major redevelopment in the early 2000s and can no longer facilitate demand.
Detailed studies have confirmed the need for major expansion of UHG and approval has already been given to begin planning for the first two ward blocks.
Without relocating the helipad, the HSE says it cannot progress beyond the first phase of its proposed hospital expansion, as the proposed emergency heliport forms part of the wider redevelopment.
“Its location makes it impossible to construct the proposed new Ward Block B, new medical Labs and new Critical Care blocks on the western side of the campus,” the HSE said.
“It cannot facilitate dual landings and cannot be expanded to facilitate these in the current location. Its location beside the multistorey car park means that unfavourable crosswinds render it unusable on occasion.”
Larger Coast Guard helicopters are now in regular use and require more space and stricter landing conditions than older aircraft.
The hospital has also become the regional centre for emergency cardiac procedures, leading to more patients being flown to Galway for urgent treatment.
In addition, the introduction of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) and the Emergency Aeromedical Service, operated by the Irish Air Corps on behalf of the National Ambulance Service, has resulted in more emergency helicopter landings.
The HSE says the opening of a second Emergency Aeromedical Service base in Sligo will further increase the number of helicopters using UHG.
“The combination of adjoining structures and unfavourable cross wind direction meane that the helipad in its current location is frequently unusable and helicopters have to find an alternative offsite landing location,” it said.
The agreement.
As part of the agreement approved by councillors, the HSE will pay €691,875 for the land and contribute a further €1.1 million towards the redevelopment of the remaining park.
The HSE says the funding will be provided to Galway City Council and the redevelopment of the remaining park will be community-led.
It has also committed to leading community engagement with local residents before Galway City Council prepares a development plan for the remaining parkland.
At the meeting however, Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Leonard Cleary said the consultation process would take place between the council and the community and “won’t involved the HSE”.
The HSE will transfer a strip of land to Galway City Council for a nominal fee to provide a new entrance into Shantalla Park from Costello Road.
It says the new entrance is essential to ensure residents can continue to access the remaining parkland. The proposal also allows for the future BusConnects and Active Travel route through the hospital campus.
Following a heated debate, Galway City Councillors voted to dispose of the land after a detailed motion was presented by Cllr Peter Keane (FF).
Among the items he sought was that the land can only be used for the proposed emergency heliport as part of the redevelopment of UHG
If the HSE ever wants to use the land for any other purpose, ownership must revert to Galway City Council at the same price paid for it.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Council would not be required to repay the HSE's separate €1.1 million contribution towards the redevelopment of the remaining park.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, in the event of the lands being returned, there shall be no obligation on Galway City Council to repay the additional contribution,” his motion stipulated.
Calls from Labour Cllr John McDonagh to defer the decision until September did not get the go ahead.
BusConnects:
It also shores up the BusConnects route as outlined in the current City Development Plan (2023-2029) and that UHG supports this objective.
This was a major point of contention at the meeting on Monday, which took place at the Atlantic Technological University, where councillors said this had been a ‘red line’ on decision making and was only confirmed at the last minute.
The bus route design will be progressed in parallel with the design of the first major development proposed on the Campus (Ward Block A).
Details of the agreed bus route, together with associated active travel infrastructure, will be included as part of the planning application for this project.
The argument against:
Residents, however, insist there was another option.
The Shantalla Park Action Group argue the HSE has failed to properly examine a viable alternative - an elevated dual-landing heliport on the hospital campus that would preserve Shantalla Park while also improving emergency patient transfers.
In a letter to councillors ahead of Monday's vote, Chairperson Dr Conan Reilly urged elected members to reject the proposal.
"We strongly oppose the unnecessary sacrifice of central city parkland in Galway,” he said.
"We appeal you to vote no to disposal of Shantalla park lands, particularly when there is a better alternative available that you may not have been made aware of by the HSE."
The group highlighted a report which demonstrates the feasibility of an elevated dual-landing heliport above hospital parking.
It says the structure could later be relocated onto the roof of future emergency buildings, preserving public green space while allowing the hospital to continue expanding.
Dr Reilly argues that rooftop heliports have become the gold standard in modern emergency medicine because they allow patients to be transferred directly into emergency departments, intensive care units and operating theatres.
"A rooftop heliport is nowhere to be seen in the HSE's masterplan for the hospital, despite being the gold standard in emergency care as it saves invaluable time and frees up an ambulance ground transfer,” he said.
They argue that an elevated heliport would preserve valuable green space, reduce noise for nearby residents, improve safety for helicopter crews and avoid what it believes is the unnecessary loss of public parkland.
"There is an alternative,” said Dr Reilly to the Galway City Tribune.
“The sale of the parkland is not necessary. It is a land grab playing on the heartstrings of healthcare for the region.”
Dr Reilly also argued that green spaces beside hospitals should be viewed as part of healthcare infrastructure in their own right.
Lack of trust:
Residents say confidence in the HSE has also been damaged by the continued use of what was originally presented as a temporary helipad.
Campaigner Billy Smyth said frustration within the community had reached boiling point.
"People are very concerned about the proposed sale of Shantalla pitch,” he said.
"They were raging over it. We feel we cannot trust the HSE in anything they say because of past grievances over the temporary helipad and other issues."
Residents also criticised the limited two-day public consultation period last week.
"The public consultation is only a ticking-the-box exercise,” continued Billy.
"It will be meaningless. We all attended the last one and I didn't meet any person from Shantalla in favour of selling the park to the HSE. We think what they say should be taken with a pinch of salt."
Cllr John McDonagh (Lab), who opposed the sale, said Shantalla Park should be viewed as an important part of the hospital environment rather than surplus land.
It is a smokescreen and in five years it will be a car park.
"The park has been at the heart of the local community since 1943 and provides an irreplaceable public amenity for recreation, sport, biodiversity and wellbeing,” he said.
At the meeting, Cllr McDonagh said he had “great reservations about trusting the HSE” and that he wanted to defer the vote to “ger more information”.
“This has been going on for 20 years or more,” he said.
“This is the 7th or 8th attempt. It is a green space for nearly 80 years. Every two years the HSE came back looking for this”.
He said a rooftop or raised helipad option “was not explored properly” and that, while there is a plan for a helipad on the roof of the second building, it was “not there before”.
“They changed their mind,” he said.
“Will it be a helipad – is this just the angle to finally get the park? Is this going to be a car park in ten years time. Where will all these cars go?
“It is a smokescreen and in five years it will be a car park.”
Chairing her first meeting as Mayor of Galway City, all eyes were on Cllr Helen Ogbu (Lab) as she took some time before voting in favour of the sale of the land.
Speaking afterwards to the Connacht Tribune, she said her fears were allayed upon receipt of the details contained in Cllr Keane's motion.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme