Concerns have been raised over a planning application for a new convent in the Taylor’s Hill area, with issues such as traffic, height, and water treatment being cited.
The Sisters of Mercy Western Province is seeking planning permission from the Galway City Council to build a new convent, south of Taylor’s Hill Road and to the east of Rosary Lane.
The proposed two and three storey convent is to be accessed by extending the Croi Nua access road off Rosary Lane. It will consist of 43 single bedrooms with communal ancillary accommodation with external bin store and shed and all associated siteworks, landscaping, and services. It also includes for the provision of 43 surface car parking spaces.
In a submission to the council’s planning department, An Taisce said it had “no principled objection to the development proposed”, but it has raised some concerns it wants the council to address.
An Taisce chair Derrick Hambleton, in a letter to the council, asked about the proposed height of the development.
“We have some concern for the design, over three floors, by reason that it is to house retired nuns who you would think, would prefer living on one level, as is the case with the Dominican Convent up the road,” he wrote.
Mr Hambleton also pointed out that An Bord Pleanála refused the development of 94 residential units in Bearna on the grounds of “the limited capacity of the Mutton Island Sewerage Treatment Plant” and that any such “development, would be premature, pending the upgrading” of the existing plant.
“Clearly this issue is about to cause planning chaos in Galway for this and other similar planning situations, and this issue should be considered in deciding what to do with this particular application,” he wrote.
He also argued that the proposed entrance via Rosary Lane could increase traffic congestion in the area. He pointed out that previous applications for the area have been refused because of concerns over traffic.
