A controversial plan for the Renmore and Ballyloughane area was debated at Monday’s Galway City Council meeting for more than two hours.
Several councillors spoke passionately about issues with the cycle network proposals.
Cllr Terry O’Flaherty highlighted it as ‘one of the most important items for Renmore in years,’ as the proposals were discussed.
“As far as I can see there was no worthwhile consultation with the residents,” Cllr O’Flaherty said.
“You had plenty of venues you could have invited people to, it would have been much easier if everyone in Renmore was contacted.”
Similar sentiments were shared by Cllr Declan McDonnell, who added: “You need to go back to the drawing board, the consultation has been a disaster.”
Cllr Alan Cheevers, who backed other proposals for the Doughiska area, said: “This plan that is there is not fit for purpose.
“The situation right across the board is that people don’t want this. Even cyclist groups have contacted me - they don’t believe that this is a good plan or a safe plan.”
Uinsinn Finn, senior engineer at the Galway City Council, responded: “We would only bring this forward if we felt it was the right thing to do.”
Regarding the public consultation, Mr Finn stated ‘more than 200 submissions were made - that is good public engagement’.
Benefits must be provided when taking away car parking spaces, according to Cllr Niall Murphy.
“I have never shied away from the unpopular act of removing car parking, but that change has to provide benefits,” Cllr Murphy said.
“And in this plan the benefits to active travel are not there yet. The concept of shared streets only works in a limited set of circumstances and Ballyloughane Road has too much through traffic. We have to ensure this plan will genuinely help offer a good alternative to car journeys before we proceed.”
Regarding the parking that will be prohibited in sections of the area Cllr Peter Keane asked: “What are the parking contingencies for visiting teams? Do you expect teams from Knocknacarra, Spiddal, and Tuam to cycle to Renmore. Where do people park?”
Cllr Mike Cubbard added: “Parking for sports clubs - do we have a realistic idea of what is happening there? We need to be realistic. Do you actually have an idea of what is happening in the area?”
Mr Finn replied: “I’m not going to hide away from that the fact that one of the impacts will be a loss of parking.”
It was subsequently suggested by city council officials that teams could park near the railway bridge in Ballyloughane.
Brendan McGrath, Galway City Council chief executive also spoke about the proposals: “You are trying to balance competing interests and competing needs,” Mr McGrath remarked. “In attempting to achieve the agreed outcome means difficult choices.”
Mr McGrath indicated that Galway City Council officials will discuss the matter further with local councillors as soon as possible.
