Cllr John Connolly has been advised that the Road’s Project Office will provide updated information to An Bord Pleanala by September 20.
The Galway Roads Project office have advised Cllr John Connolly that they intend to furnish a response to An Bord Pleana?la’s An further information request by September 20 this year.
“I see this as being a renewed starting point for the project and while one would wish the reappraisal of the road project by An Bord Pleanala could commence immediately, it is at least now formal and brings some certainty to the project that we know that the Road office will respond to An Bord Pleanala by September 20,” he said.
“From that point, one would hope that An Bord Pleanala carry out their work in a careful and expeditious manner. It is important to remember that An Bord Pleana?la previously approved the road scheme which included an assessment against the 2019 climate action plan.”
“In January 2023 the High Court quashed the decision made by An Bord Pleanala to approve the City Ring Road. The High Court ordered that the project be remitted back to An Bord to reassessment, due to their failure to assess the project against the 2020 climate action plan which had been introduced shortly before their final decision, “ added Cllr Connolly.
He said that last December, An Bord Pleanala wrote to Galway County Council to update the planning application for the road citing the passage of time since the initial application.
An Bord Pleanala sought four specific pieces of information from the Roads project office including to update the motorway scheme, updated Environmental Impact Assessment, updated Natura Impact Statement. They also sought for the office to make a submission in relation to the most recent Climate Action Plan and the implications of the new city development plan.
“Since the correspondence was received by the county council last December, I have been pursuing the city council officials to update the elected council on the when An Bord Pleanala would have the required information. It has now been confirmed that it will be with the Bord by the deadline of September 20,” he said.
“It’s frustrating that we are still awaiting the review of the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy to be published but I believe it will find that the N6 GCRR remains a crucial and core element of the city’s transportation strategy.”
