A controversial decision on whether or not to give away 21 acres of city council-owned land to the Government’s Land Aggregation Scheme has been deferred for two years.
According to Labour councillor and Galway West candidate Derek Nolan, the scheme would see the Galway City Council’s housing landbank reduced by more than 60 per cent, but would see the council’s loan liability for the lands written off.
At Monday’s city council meeting, Cllr Nolan proposed that the council defer entering into the Land Aggregation Scheme, saying it made “sense to hold on to the land as long as possible”.
“With 4,000 applicants, the council housing list is at an all time high,” he said. “This land bank is badly needed if we are to begin to tackle the problem. Our housing land bank as it stands is insufficient. We need every acre.”
Interest on these loans will not be payable by the council until 2013 at the earliest. Cllr Nolan said this means the council has two years to find funding to develop the land.
“Hopefully, a new government will use housing provision as a way of tackling the waiting list, and putting people back to work,” he said. “It saves the land bank, gives us time to source
funding for building on it, and will not cost the council anything.”
