Galway Chamber has called for swift adjudication from An Bord Pleanála (ABP ) in their reconsideration of the Galway Ring Road, following the High Court ruling on the matter.
The current planning application, which was originally submitted in 2018, will now revert to the same position it was at in June 2021, after ABP’s planning inspector made a submission on the proposed project.
The reconsideration is required after ABP did not take into account the Government’s new climate plan when they made their decision to grant permission in November 8th 2021. The Government had adopted the new plan four days earlier.
“Following on from the High Court’s judgment on this matter, we hope that we will now see swift adjudication from An Bord Pleanála on the Ring Road,” said Kenny Deery, CEO of Galway Chamber.
“At this point the process is likely to play out as follows. ABP will either decide ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ based on the inspector’s reports, taking into account the Government’s climate action plan,” said Mr Deery.
“Another possibility is that ABP believes the inspector’s report needs further detail, in which case they will ask them to reopen the case. Regardless of which route this process takes, we hope a decision is made in the near future.
“This project is a central part of the entire Galway transport plan. That plan will be reviewed later this year. It would be of immense benefit for the entire region if it were possible to have a sense of where this project was going in advance of that process taking place.
“Everyone concerned about transport in Galway is awaiting the next step, so hopefully there will be progress on this matter relatively soon,” Mr Deery concluded.
