Galway City Councillor Josie Forde has welcomed progress on the Southpark Masterplan, with Galway City Council confirming that consultants have been appointed to assess the feasibility of plans previously adopted by the Council.
Speaking following a recent meeting of Galway City Council, Cllr Forde expressed her disappointment that Southpark had not been prioritised in the latest application to the Government’s Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF ), despite the project’s importance to the local community.
At the meeting, Cllr Forde questioned why Southpark had not featured in the Council’s application, where €25 million in funding is being sought for other projects at Kingston and Millars Lane, which are reportedly at a more advanced stage.
Director of Services Patrick Greene confirmed that while Southpark remains a key priority, the projects at Kingston and Millars Lane were further along in their development, explaining that a resource issue had contributed to the delays in advancing the Southpark plans.
Cllr Forde was also critical of recent media reports suggesting that the Southpark project had been delayed by as much as six years, calling such reports “scaremongering.” She added, “Councillors need to be more responsible and accurate in their media releases.”
Having championed the provision of an all-weather Astro facility for Southpark since her election to Galway City Council in June, Cllr Forde reiterated her commitment to seeing the project through.
“The communities of Claddagh and the West deserve no less than what is being planned for Knocknacarra, and that is what I will fight for, to represent the mandate given to me by the people,” she said.
