Wanted city architect for thriving west coast port which is rapidly destroying its own unique environment. Pay and conditions commensurate with extensive responsibilities . . .
It is not the sort of wording Galway City Council would choose to use. Nor is it a post that all of its members would support. Some 18 months after a Labour Party proposal for such a position was moved at a corporation meeting, a senior executive architect is now due to be appointed.
However, the appointee will deal mainly with the authority's own housing schemes. "He or she will advise on other architectural matters in relation to forward planning," says city manager Mr John Tierney. He acknowledges it is "not an all-embracing city architect's post" as envisaged in the motion tabled by Labour's Ald Catherine Connolly.
It comes as no great surprise to environmental groups which have been campaigning to save what is left of their city. They can cite many examples, one being the loss of yet another piece of open green space as a result of the construction of eight two-storey dormer townhouses, along with 10 parking spaces, at Palmyra Park, by a group of business interests known as the Galway Artisans and Labourers Association.
At the time of the application, over 18 months ago, Galway's An Taisce branch questioned the ownership of the lands and the title to the open green enjoyed by generations of children living in Palmyra Park and Raleigh Row. It also said the scale and mass of the building proposed would be in "complete contrast" to the scale of the existing two-storey houses in Palmyra Park.
Residents of existing houses stood to lose light, and have their privacy compromised, it said. Proposals for car parking would exacerbate the problems, An Taisce added. Nevertheless, planning permission was approved. The city manager said the green space was private property and not zoned as amenity.
As An Taisce predicted, the building is now overshadowing the neighbourhood, encroaching on privacy, and it has swallowed up a valuable little piece of green.
It is only a short walk to another area now under threat - the waterway system comprising the river Corrib, Eglinton Canal and a number of mill-races to the west of the city centre. Together with associated mill buildings and warehouses, this neighbourhood is described as a townscape with "special environmental qualities" in the Galway Development Plan of 1999.
"It is the policy of Galway Corporation to develop the historical, commercial, amenity and other aspects of the city's waterways as appropriate," the plan states. "The corporation will conserve the distinctive character of this area by encouraging uses which will facilitate the retention of the buildings and waterways, and the maximum utilisation of their potential and tourist interest. The semi-rural character of the waterways will be protected."
Not so, says Cáirde na Gaillimhe and members of a residents' association in the area. The latest in a series of new apartment developments to receive planning approval "violates" this policy, according to the New Road/Henry Street/Canal Road Residents' Association.
It has been in contact with the corporation over alleged departures from the plans as approved during construction of 19 two-bedroom residential units, and one caretaker unit.
The two- to three-storey building received approval after five unsuccessful applications for apartments on the same site. It is directly opposite and overlooking three listed buildings on New Road. Work began in April last year and has caused traffic congestion, parking problems and noise problems, the residents claim.
What really bothers the association is encroachment of the building on to the canal towpath. In July the residents met the city manager and members of the planning department, and on July 31st a warning notice was issued by the corporation to Marlfield Developments, requiring it to stop work.
A discrepancy had been identified between the levels of the basements shown on the approved drawings compared to those on site. In October the residents were told by the corporation it was accepting Marlfield's explanation for the discrepancy.
The residents contacted the Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees and what transpired raised questions about the attitude of the local authority towards this body - established to protect the waterways on behalf of the people of Galway.
There is no mechanism or procedure to notify the trustees about developments which could impinge on their property. The trustees work on a small budget, with a narrow role limited to matters affecting navigation.
Trustees' chairwoman, Ald Catherine Connolly, is not at all happy. Her body has sought legal opinion from a senior counsel on its powers.
She paid tribute to the residents for alerting the trustees to a situation which "once again exposes the inadequacies of planning enforcement".
