Galway City Council needs to listen

Council should focus on its own record on delivering facilities

Sir, – Galway City Council has stood over decades of scattergun housing development while consistently failing to deliver facilities such as public or active transport infrastructure. Adequate footpaths are in no way guaranteed in Galway, for example. It then expresses shock and outrage at An Bord Pleanála when it rejects planning for housing on the basis that transport options and other facilities are insufficient (“Galway council chief ‘surprised and disappointed’ by An Bord Pleanála refusals for social housing in city”, News, April 24th).

Shock! Outrage! Anti-Galway!

But take a look at the record of this council and you see the real problem (with a few honourable exceptions) is suddenly much closer to home.

These are decision-makers who complain about traffic while shooting down active travel efforts over and over again – the latest one only this month. We have suburbs that are completely underserviced by public transport and estates with incomplete footpaths and no cycling infrastructure. With no other options, people are locked into their cars – condemned to hours of gridlock. These problems are only getting worse and the council seems incapable or unwilling to act.

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The council should focus on its own record on delivering facilities. – Yours, etc,

GRÁINNE FALLER,

Salthill,

Galway.

A chara, – It is curious to hear a councillor call An Bord Pleanála a “basket case”. The reasons for refusal of much-needed housing developments stem from two decades of poor planning – planning for which the councillors are responsible. Consequences of that poor planning are apparent in our needlessly awful traffic.

Cycle lanes and walking shortcuts or buses are just not thought of in designs and are politically infeasible to retrofit.

Developing field by disconnected field has been disastrous for public services and some of our political leaders seem to want more of the same, according to your report.

Rather than being “anti-Galway”, it is a civic good that An Bord Pleanála is finally stepping up to this and insisting on basic walking, cycling and bus connectivity before development.

In fact, questions remain about how previous developments slipped by them. You can still find revenant footpaths on the Lower Ballymoneen Road which lead into a wall before reappearing further down the hill. – Is mise,

KEVIN JENNINGS,

Knocknacarra,

Galway City.