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Planning permission has been refused by Galway City Council for a housing estate on the west side of the city which would have consisted of 74 residential units.
Diagnostic Medical Imagine International Ltd sought approval for the demolition of two existing houses on land at Rosario, Kingston, and to build a new estate on the site.
The project would have consisted of three blocks of apartments ranging from 4 to 5 storeys in height, containing a total of 44 apartments.
Along with those, it was proposed to build 8 detached houses, 22 semi-detached houses, and a resident’s gym.
The site as it is now consists of a number of fields to the north of the Kingston Road, with two cottages up to the front of the site.
The city council refused planning permission on two ground. The development would rely on the dispersal of traffic through multiple routes, but the council said that the developer had failed to show that the route at Garraí de Bruin to the north would not comply with urban road design standards.
Without this, the Kingston Road access point would not be considered sufficient on its own, the council said, and would therefore “endanger the safety of traffic and the public”.
The council also stated that the developer had failed to show that it had failed to show “consent and sufficient legal interest” in lands which form part of the application, and for works on adjacent lands and structures which would be required to enable the estate.
The city council had requested further information from the developer to show that it was either the owner of the land in the site, or had the consent of the owners to lodge this application.
In response, a letter from Swaine Solicitors stated that their client is the “legal and beneficial owner of most of the lands” in the application, and the “beneficial owner” of the remainder.
But city planners noted that no land folio or maps indicating ownership had been submitted, and that the application could not proceed without clarity on what lands are owned by the developer, and which they had consent to work on.
A total of 19 public submissions were received the city council concerning this housing, including four petitions from existing local housing estates bearing 53 signatures between them.
Locals raised a number of concerns related the proposed design of the estate, saying that it would be out of character with the area, and that the Kingston Road entrance would constitute a traffic hazard due to the road conditions in the area.
Local residents also stated that the developer did not have sufficient legal interest to carry out proposed connectivity works on roads, footpaths, and junctions outside of their site.
