Sir, – Every bit of green space seems to be disappearing under concrete in Galway city and suburbs.
The housing is needed and welcomed, but the lack of planning for parks and outdoor space is dispiriting. Already the open areas – the Prom, the small city-centre parks, the local beaches – are crammed with people on any sunny day. Parking and traffic jams are nightmarish. The narrow roads along which cattle were herded 25 years are now so busy with traffic that walking along them means taking one’s life in one’s hands.
Nobody is asking for something like Hyde Park in the middle of Galway (though it would be lovely). But building on every green space and pouring more and more people into the limited recreational areas we currently have is a recipe for disaster. We need more public outdoor space. Places where we can walk our dogs, lie on the grass reading or sit on a bench and feel the sun – or rain – on our faces. We need places in which to live, but we also need space in which to breathe. – Yours, etc,
POLLY NOLAN,
Five days in San Sebastián and Bilbao: Both Basque cities are beautiful but one became my favourite
Irishwoman in El Salvador: I’m 60 and moved halfway around the world. Everything is different
Why has much of Ireland had no sun for 10 days now? The jet stream is to blame
‘Having anxiety was not debilitating.’ Being ashamed of it was
Corcullen,
Galway.
