The Galway branch of heritage body An Taisce has written a wide-ranging submission to city planners on government proposals to build high-rise apartments at the docks.
The state’s Land Development Agency (LDA ) lodged a planning application to Galway City Council last month to build 356 apartments, retail units, a new public plaza, coastal walking path, and a creche, as part of Amharc Atalia, a scheme situated at the inner harbour of Galway Port, fronting Lough Atalia Road.
In its submission, An Tiasce said it welcomed plans to build more residential accommodation in the city centre. It saluted the inclusion of well-designed car-parking and bicycle racks, but suggested planners mandate space for cargo bikes.
However An Taisce raised concerns about flood risks, sewage, environmental impact and proposed building heights.
As much of the Port of Galway property is reclaimed land, An Taisce is concerned about seawater flooding, pushed by the flow of the Corrib, seeping laterally into the development, and rising vertically, particularly as the planning submission does not include permanent sea defences.
Last June, the Office of Public Works said it had engaged engineers to design a €50 million sea defence network from Salthill to Ballyloughane, but this three-year construction is not due to commence until 2030. An Taisce submits that minimum flood defences should be put in place around the LDA’s lands at the entrance to Lough Atalia, before construction begins of high rise apartment buildings.
One block will be six storeys high, while three other buildings will range between nine and 13 storeys tall. The An Taisce submission queries whether “cost rental” apartments may be constructed economically above the five-storey height, and whether upper floor residents may become socially isolated from their streetscape. The heritage group also expressed discomfort at reduced apartment sizes.
“The LDA should have focused on providing “homes” where people could enjoy a good quality of life rather than providing “units”. More generous apartment floor areas would make it feasible for people to work from home,” the group says.
On an environmental note, the An Taisce submission says the planning application lacks a carbon footprint calculation, and that Environmental Impact Statements (EIS ) submitted to the council are “unsound” as they do not properly address wastewater issues, and increasingly extreme weather events.
