Calls to have lands around Lenaboy Castle made into a public park could fail to become a reality because of the planning process and strict spending during an economic downturn.
Cllr Donal Lyons submitted a notice of motion to the Galway City Council calling on the local authority to enter into discussions with the Sisters of Mercy Western Province with a view to purchasing the 11 acres of land at St Anne’s - formerly Lenaboy Castle - as a future public amenity park for the city.
Planning permission is being sought for 122 residential units including a mixture of apartments and duplex units in five story block format. The proposed development which is currently under appeal to An Board Pleanála.
Cllr Lyons said the residents want to see this the area become a park but Independent Cllr Daniel Callanan warned that the “cost of it would be enormous” and it would be “reckless” for costs not to be considered in the motion.
Green Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin said “money is tight” in the current climate and that the cost could run to “tens of millions”. However he said if the motion’s wording was changed form “purchasing” to “acquiring” it would “solve the problem”.
He said the idea was “a fantastic opportunity” and there was “no reason we cannot look at funding for this”.
Fine Gael Cllr Brian Walsh agreed with Cllr Callanan. He said the money from projected costs of buying the Lenaboy Castle lands could be put to better use developing facilities in Knocknacarra and Doughiska.
City manager Joe MacGrath said the land is subject to the planning process and that the Lenaboy Castle area was not highlighted in the Recreational and Needs programme. He added that money is “an issue”. However, he said: “If anyone want to walk through those doors and offer me the land, I’ll take it.”
Councillors voted by a majority to pass Cllr Lyons motion.
Afterwards Cllr Catherine Connolly welcomed the almost unanimous vote. She said the proposal for 122 residential units is “not sustainable development and is utterly out of keeping with the area”. She said the proposed development will “significantly add to the already chaotic traffic congestion in the area but particularly on Rosemary Lane”.
Cllr Connolly believes “these very special lands, with protected structures and a very special and poignant history” should be turned into a city park.
“The park.” she said, “if given over to the city would be a special way of cherishing and remembering and paying tribute to those children who we failed as a society and who were obliged to live in what was then the Lenaboy Industrial School in extremely sad and distressing conditions
