Plans have progressed for the development of the Clifden Flood Relief Scheme, with the appointment of engineers to develop the plan.
Galway County Council has appointed Jacobs Engineering Ireland Ltd for the first stage of developing the flood relief scheme.
They have been appointed to progress both the Engineering and Environmental elements of the scheme, which is currently at its first stage.
Clifden was hit by devastating flooding in September of 2020, where torrential rain caused the Owenglin River to rise and cause catastrophic flooding in town.
Many homes had to be evacuated in a hurry as the unprecedented rapid onset of the flooding caught everyone by surprise.
Some relief works have already been progressed in the area. A contractor was appointed last January to carry out storm water diversion works on the Low Road.
The full Flood Relief Scheme shall comprise of up to five stages, as follows:
• Stage I: Scheme Assessment, Development, and Design
• Stage II: Planning
• Stage III: Detailed Design and Procurement of Works
Roscommon-Galway TD Claire Kerrane has called for the newly announced Connecting Ireland transport initiative to listen to the needs of rural communities.
Connecting Ireland, led by the National Transport Authority, is aimed at increasing public transport connectivity between cities, towns, surrounding villages and rural areas.
The Connecting Ireland initiative is planned to be implemented over five years from 2022, at an estimated cost of €57m.
Speaking following a briefing on the proposals, Deputy Kerrane said that rural communities have experienced “absolute inadequacy” when it comes to public transport links for decades.
She said that successive governments have failed to properly invest in connectivity and that although better services have been announced as part of Connecting Ireland, “the proof will be in the implementation.”
“In my own constituency of Roscommon-Galway, we are seeing services being removed rather than scaled up,” said Deputy Kerrane.
“We saw this recently with the removal of the 20/X20 Dublin to Galway bus route, and I know there are similar experiences in other rural areas.”
Deputy Kerrane highlighted a situation in Galway where “those living in Moylough and Mountbellew with appointments at nearby Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe are forced to get a bus to Galway City, and then get another bus out of Galway City to Ballinasloe.”
“There are countless examples of nonsensical gaps like this across rural communities.”
The Sinn Féin TD said that ensuring the consultation process is coherent, accessible and inclusive ‘really matters’.
“I encourage the NTA to reach out to all facets of rural communities, including engagement with local organisations representing Older People, Disabled People and Irish Rural Link.
“There must be a focus on addressing the fundamental flaws in our transport links to support workers and families with their day-to-day lives.
“Those living in these rural communities must be listened to as part of the development of this plan.”
Planning permission has been refused by Galway County Council to build 14 new houses onto an Athenry housing estate.
Bellville Building & Construction submitted plans to build an additional 14 houses at the southern end of the Cluain Lara housing estate on the outskirts of Athenry.
The works would have involved removing a decommissioned wastewater treatment plant and polishing filter on the site.
The new houses were to consist of three 4-bed, detached houses; eight 3-bed, semi-detached homes; and three 3-bed, terraced dwellings.
There were fifteen submission by local residents objecting to the project made to the county council, which raised concerns about the increased traffic, but mostly about the loss of green space within the estate, to make way for yet more houses.
The council inspector’s report noted that if this development was approved there would be “no usable open amenity space” for existing and new residents in much of the Cluain Lara estate.
The only amenity space left would be a strip of land by the northern edge of the public road, which the inspector added is “heavily planted and not of a layout amenable to play/sports”.
This lack of open space for residents was one of the reasons cited by the council in refusing planning permission, saying that the plans are a “substandard quality of residential design and layout
The county council also said that, based on the information submitted it was also not satisfied that there is enough capacity in the wastewater network for the new houses, or that the developer had the required consent to connect to the existing network.
A new 50 bed ward block for Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe is expected to be completed by mid-2023 according to the HSE.
The Health Service Executive has been granted an extension of planning permission for the construction of the new ward block by the county council.
Enabling works began on site in August of 2020, and in the EOD application the HSE states that it is expected the development will be completed by Q2 of 2023.
The project was first granted planning permission in July of 2017, and this was to expire in August of this year. With the EOD granted by the county council, permission will now last to October 2026.
When completed, the €15 million project will deliver a two-storey, 4,038sqm ward building with 50 beds, and a link corridor to the existing hospital.
The HSE said that the extension is needed due to “financial concerns, requirement of enabling works to prepare for development, phasing works under a separate contract, and the unexpected delays such as Covid.”
The extension of planning permission for Portiuncula Hospital was granted by the county council unconditionally.
A national initiative based at NUIG putting patients at the centre of decision-making on health and social care research has been launched.
Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte has today officially launched the PPI Ignite Network.
Headquartered at NUI Galway, this initiative has programme offices at seven universities across Ireland, a network of local, national and international partners and an expanding group of PPI contributors.
PPI – Public Patient Involvement – aims to produce research that is both more transparent to the public, and more relevant to the needs of patients.
“Nothing about us, without us’ resonates strongly with me and I particularly welcome the emphasis across the PPI Ignite Network on including historically marginalised groups in co-designing research.”
“Involving people who have not had a voice previously can help shape a different and healthier future for so many people in the coming decades,” Anne Rabbitte said.
The network will help to shape the direction of research by having patients and carers collaborate with researchers on what issues are important to prioritise.
The PPI Network has five years of funding now, which will be used to educate students, researchers, policymakers, and the wider public on what this involves.
It will also examine making it easier for the public to get involved in research, including reaching out to marginalised or disadvantaged groups, and create an online PPI hub to share resources, events, and experience.
Professor Seán Dinneen, Consultant Endocrinologist with the Saolta Healthcare Group, is the national lead for the PPI Ignite Network.
He said that it will “drive excellence and inspire innovation” by embedding the role of the patient involvement in research, building partnerships between research groups and community organisations.
Dr. Anne Cody of the Health Research Board said they have been championing PPI in healthcare for more than five years.
“Our work is clearly illustrating that people’s insights and life experience can inform research in ways researchers operating in isolation can’t.”
Connemara man John Nevin is among the nominees for Brain Tumour Ireland’s ‘Hats Off Heroes’ initiative, which allows people with brain tumours to thank those around them for their support and kindness.
John was nominated as a ‘Hats Off Hero’ by his wife Mairead who was diagnosed with a large tumour on her brain earlier this year. The couple have two children, Abigail, 9, and Joshua, 7.
Mairead said that John suffers from Crohn’s disease and she would have always minded him – but in February 2021, their lives took a turn for the worse when she had a large tumour on her brain, followed by a post-op stroke.
“I was five months away from him and our two kids. John did all the school runs and minded the kids, even though he was unwell himself,” said Mairead.
“Now I’m home and he’s minding me. He helps me to wash when I’m tired, he cuts my nails and ties up my hair.
“It’s huge pressure going from being minded to being a minder. He doesn’t realise how much I appreciate all he does for me and the kids.”
The Hats Off Heroes initiative is currently running until Saturday, 6 November during Brain Tumour Awareness Week.
A shortlist of ‘Hats Off Heroes’ nominees will have their names put in a hat for a special prize draw, while a selection of the submitted stories will be highlighted on Brain Tumour Ireland’s social media channels this week.
Reacting to being nominated a ‘Hats Off Hero’, John said that it was surprise because Mairead didn’t tell him.
“But I suppose it’s a good surprise,” he said. “Mairead’s parents also helped out with minding the children when I was staying in a hotel in Dublin to be near Mairead when she was in Beaumont Hospital.”
‘Hats Off Heroes’, Chairperson of Brain Tumour Ireland Peter Cosgrove said that Mairead’s story demonstrates how invaluable everyday acts of support and kindness are to people affected by brain tumours.
“It also shines a light on the strength and resilience of people who are affected by brain tumours, as well as the impact of the illness on them, their families and loved ones,” he said.
“More than 400 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour in Ireland each year, with many contacting Brain Tumour Ireland for support when they receive their diagnosis.
“On their behalf, we feel privileged to learn about these stories and to be able to thank the ‘Hats Off Heroes’ who have helped them.”
Also part of Brain Tumour Awareness Week, Friday 5 November is the annual Wear A Hat Day, when people across the country are invited to put on their favourite hat, take a selfie, post it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #WearAHatDay and then text BTI to 50300 to donate €4 to Brain Tumour Ireland.
The money raised will go towards funding the work of Brain Tumour Ireland in providing up-to-the-minute information, support and resources to help people affected by brain tumours in Ireland.
The best selfie will win a hat designed by Brain Tumour Awareness Week milliner partner Lina Stein, who will be choosing the winner.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in Galway has remained steady at the start of this week, with just one more patient receiving treatment on Monday evening than on Halloween night.
There are 26 COVID-19 patients at University Hospital Galway as of 8pm on Monday evening, with four of those in the intensive care unit.
One of the eight confirmed cases at Portiuncula Hospital is also in ICU.
At 8am this morning there were 493 COVID-19 patients in hospitals nationally, of whom 91 were in ICU.
Health officials reported 2,855 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the State yesterday evening.
The system of housing adaptation grants for people living with a disability has been described as “not fit for purpose” by a Galway TD.
Galway East TD Seán Canney said that the housing adaptation grants from local authorities “Are not fit for purpose relative to the cost of doing work, taking into account the gap between getting the work done and getting paid.”
Speaking in the Dáil, he added that shortfalls in the grants awarded puts a financial burden on families.
Deputy Canney was speaking in the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, where panel members were discussing the need to align Ireland’s disability services with the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The committee heard from Ms Samantha Kenney, a mother of four children, one of whom has multiple physical and mental disabilities, and two of whom are autism spectrum.
She told the committee that the current housing adaptation system is a “rigmarole” where, after being told by the council what adaptations were needed for her children, the grant only amounted to half of the quoted costs.
“Our quote was for €30,000 for the amount of work that needs to be done. The council came back and gave us a grant quote of €15,000.”
Even where they received a grant to cover some of the costs, they still had to find the full amount to pay up front, Samantha added.
“We now have to find the extra €15,000 but in reality, we have to find €30,000 because we have to pay the builder upfront. The work has to be done.”
“Then the council sends an inspector out to make sure the work is done as per the report and gives us the grant back retrospectively. For us to start work on an adaptation, therefore, I have to find €30,000, even though I am eligible for receipt of a grant for €15,000. That is a huge amount of money.”
“I am not alone in this. There are people out there who need larger adaptations than we need. We are very fortunate that we have the capability to ask for help from other people because not many people have that.”
The Housing Adaptation Grant Scheme for Older People and People with a Disability is administered by local council, with 80% of the funding for the scheme coming from the Department of Housing.
This year, Galway City and County Councils allocated over €4 million in funding for the scheme, with departmental and local funding combined.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a severe impact on the scheme, with three out of five people in Galway City who applied in the first six months of this year still waiting for their home to be inspected last September.
Deputy Canney said that adaptation grants need to be tailored specifically to the needs of the household at that time.
“That is instead of a block grant for doing something, with the threshold decided by the local authority and which has no real bearing on the overall cost,” Seán Canney said.
A fundraiser has been set up by Draiocht NUIG to raise funds for the school and children’s home in Talamarang, Nepal.
Flash floods earlier this year caused significant damage to the local school in the Nepalese village, where the majority of Draiocht NUIG’s projects are based.
Draiocht NUIG was set up in 2008 to generate funding, awareness, and a volunteer workforce to support community based projects in Tanzania and Nepal.
Like many charities around the world, the pandemic has negatively impacted Draiocht NUIG’s ability to support their long term projects in Talamarang, which include a school and a children’s home.
The fundraiser surpassed its €1,000 target within days, and is now closing in on €2,000 as of Tuesday morning.
Galway City Council has refused retention permission for a car park on the Headford Road, where student accommodation is due to be built.
Cleverson Ltd sought a two year retention permission for the 53 car park on the Headford Road, near to Galway Retail Park.
This land is part of a site where they had already received planning permission for a seven storey, 223 bed student accommodation development, which is not expected to start construction until late next year.
“It is the applicant’s intention to progress with the detailed design, tender, and construction of the student accommodation over the coming year, with a view to ‘breaking ground’ for construction sometime towards the end of 2022.”
“The applicant wishes to keep the site secure through its continued use during the interim period and is now submitting this application in consideration of same,” planning documents stated.
However, the city council noted that the site had already been operating as a car park without planning permission for much of its history.
The site was formerly as Esso garage, before that was knocked and converted into a car park in 2012 without planning permission.
It was later granted “temporary” permission by An Bord Pleanála after the council refused it, which was extended in 2017.
This expired in August of last year, and the report by the council’s planning inspector notes that enforcement action was taken against the car park owners.
Another application for a two year retention of the car park was rejected by the city council, before the student accommodation now planned for the site was given the green light.
In refusing permission yet again, the council said that permitting it would be in conflict with the Galway Transport Strategy, which aims to “reduce car parking provision and manage availability” in the city centre to encourage sustainable transport.
The rejection also said that the car park would “exacerbate the poor visual address” on the Headford Road, and undermine ambitions for the regeneration of the area.
It would therefore be “contrary to proper planning and sustainable development” to approve it, and establish a “poor precedent” for similar applications.
Health officials have reported 2,855 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the State this afternoon.
As of 8am today, 515 people with COVID are hospitalised nationally, of whom 91 are in intensive care units.
In Galway, there were 33 COVID-19 patients hospitalised when the latest data was taken yesterday evening. Twenty four were receiving care at University Hospital Galway, while there were 9 confirmed cases at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.
Four of the cases at UHG were in ICU and one COVID patient at Portiunucla was also in the intensive care unit.
Eight projects enhancing outdoor recreational amenities around Galway County have been awarded over €130,000 in funding.
The Department of Rural and Community Heritage has committed €3.5 million in funding to enhance outdoor amenities such as mountain trails, forest walks, beaches, lakes, rivers, blueways and greenways.
This funding is part of the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS), which supports natural attractions and enhancing the tourism attraction of rural Ireland.
In Galway the largest single award was €20,000 for Annaghdown Pier, where the money will be used for maintenance of the swimming area, pier structure, and bank wall, as well providing lifebuoys.
Other projects which received funding include €19,800 each to enhance The Wheels of Athenry cycle trail, adding signposts and repair stations, and adding more toilet and shower facilities for Cill Mhuirbhigh Blue Flag beach on Inis Mór.
A further €19,637.64 2 will go towards improvement to the Lúibín Gharumna Trail in Leitir Mór, and Binn Shléibhe walking trail in Clonbur will receive €17,955 for upgrades.
The closed Sandybanks Lane Walkway in Gortnamona will be repaired, enhanced, and reopened with the help of €17,910.
In Letterfrack, the Inis Lee Loop walking trail has been allocated €17,774 for drainage and repair works to the old stone pathway.
An lastly there has been €17,000 set aside for upgrade works on 15km of the Connemara Greenway which have been completed.
Minister Heather Humphreys said that this funding will “further develop and improve” outdoor infrastructure in rural communities nationwide.
“COVID-19 has given us a newfound appreciation for our great outdoors. That’s why I’m delighted that we can support so many fantastic projects under this funding.”
“By drawing more visitors to experience the beauty of our rural towns and villages, we will help further support our rural economy to rebuild post Covid-19.”
There are 189 projects around Ireland which were allocated funding under Measure 1 of ORIS this year, with grants of up to €20,000.
Funding under Measures 2 & 3 of the scheme, medium and large scale projects, will be announced before the end of the year.
Sinn Féin has reiterated its support for reopening the Western Rail Corridor at the party’s Ard Fheis held in Dublin.
Delegates unanimously passed a motion calling for the reopening of the rail line to passenger and freight services.
Addressing delegates on the motion at the weekend, Galway East Sinn Féin representative Louis O’Hara said that the West of Ireland is a region in decline, and that this has been confirmed by the EU’s recent downgrading of the western region to being a region ‘in transition’.
He blamed successive centre-right Governments for the West of Ireland suffering from “underinvestment and a lack of opportunities – particularly for young people.”
“The rail corridor would bring enormous economic benefits to our region by enabling us to compete with other areas of the country in attracting investment and growing jobs, thereby improving the quality of life for those of us who live there,” said Mr O’Hara.
“And at a time when we are being asked to reduce our emissions and use public transport to tackle climate change, the reopening of the rail line makes perfect sense.”
He said the Government is using the all-island rail review as an excuse to kick the can down the road and avoid making a decision on the future of the rail line.
“That simply isn’t good enough, the West of Ireland is in crisis and we need real action now from the Government to turn things around,” he said.
“People in the West are sick of being treated as second class citizens, fed up with underinvestment and no longer willing to accept the lack of jobs and opportunity.”
Memories are fickle things. Often when you strive to recollect something important to you, it slips away like mist, only for a random sight or sound to call it back to the front of your mind in perfect clarity.
Promenade, a multi-sensory podcast coming out this week, is a collection of sixteen stories from around the world dealing with the triggering of memories, and the stores that come with them.
From the sound of the sea reminding you of an old romance, the smell of a perfume in Paris making you yearn for home or a bar of soap reminding you of a loved one – memories can be triggered by the oddest of things.
Within Promenade, Writers, comedians, poets and songwriters from all around the world explore those moments where a song, smell or noise can bring you back to a moment in time.
This project was created by Andy Gaffney, who founded The Shift Podcast Network and hosts the shows Sound In Space and Be Grand, inspired by his days walking and running on the Prom in Salthill during lockdown.
Andy Gaffney, creator of Promenade.
Talking on how Promenade came about, Andy said “When making my other podcast Be Grand, a show about what made a person who they are today, I loved how just listening to someone’s story could bring you to places you didn’t expect to hear and that the person might not have expected to tell you.”
“With Promenade I thought it would be interesting if you focused more on that – removed the interviewer all together and just had one voice and the story they wanted to tell.”
Though he began turning the idea over in his head two years ago, it was only during lockdown that the project really began to take shape, as Andy fulfilled the promise so many of us made and broke to our ourselves, that we would use the time in lockdown to do something creative and fulfilling.
“I know for myself it meant a lot of days working on this and running on the promenade in Salthill in Galway.”
The podcast was was born “from both love and curiosity of nostalgia and a love of hearing a person’s story,” he explained.
He says that there is nothing more “personal and unique” to a person than their memories, and the stories that live in them.
“Even a shared memory can feel completely different from person to person, as for one it could have been just a normal rainy Tuesday, but for another it could have been the day they passed someone on the street for the first time, or got some news from home.”
“The more powerful the memory can mean then the more long-lasting the trigger years and years from now,” says Andy.
“Memories and the stories they trigger can be actual real life time travel.”
Promenade is available from November 2nd on all podcast platforms including your main two Apple Podcasts and Spotify and also on www.theshift.ie.
Tracklisting
Side A
1 – When Shivvy Hickey hears the sound of the sea it always reminds of her of a lost love and what could of been.
2- Laura Carland on how The Strokes album “Is This It” makes her remember a rock and roll moment and an easier time.
3 – David Hawkins on how passing by swimming pools makes her remember a particular day where he got to win.
4 – Liset Alea searches for a perfume on the streets of Paris to remind her of home.
5 – Laura Blaise McDowell on how tin whistles remind her of an act of childhood rebellion.
6 – Rab Fulton walks through the woods of Galway and remembers a time where he and uncle went looking for dinosaurs.
7 – Dave and Cathy Cullen on the very special power of Hobnobs.
8 – Poet Dani Gill speaks about the connection between Imperial Leather soap and memories of her grandmother.
Side B
9 – When Andy Gaffney hears the fox fanfare, 30 years of memories fly past – the happy, the sad and the Star Wars.
10 – Zainab Boladale on the power of petrichor and the differences between the smell of the rain in Ireland and Africa.
11 – When Lauren Lindsey White hears the theme from Wizard of Oz it takes her back to her not so starring role as the tornado in her school play
12 – The album ‘See This Through and Leave’ by the Cooper Temple Clause is the soundtrack for Ruairi Hickson and his battle with a rare eye condition.
13 – Whenever Lynn Ruth Miller hears a dog barking she can’t help but think of the lessons she’s learned throughout her life
14 – A gas heater in Berlin prompts Daniella Reinking to think back on an early family holiday.
15 – Aoife O’Connor’s childhood was soundtracked by her parent’s mixtapes, now those playlists remind her of someone very special.
16 – Slow Skies ‘A Place in Time’ – the final track on Promenade is the song A Place in Time by the band Slow Skies written by Karen Sheridan.
There were more than 1,100 patients on trolleys in Galway’s hospitals in the city and Ballinasloe last month according to INMO figures.
Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe was particularly striking, with the 329 patients on trolleys representing the worst October it had seen in years.
University Hospital Galway was the third most overcrowded nationwide last month, dealing with 829 patients without a bed.
NMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said that these figures are “an indication of what lies ahead” if action is not taken in the health service.
“These figures come in the backdrop of rapidly increasing COVID cases, increased hospitalisations and an increased number of nurses and midwives becoming infected with COVID-19.”
“We urgently need to see action on ensuring that patient-facing healthcare workers have every protection possible to keep them safe as infection numbers are reaching the high numbers we saw earlier this year.”
She reiterated a need for the COVID-19 booster shot rollout to be extended to healthcare workers to protect them.
“Our hospitals are no longer just full, they are overcrowded and we have not seen any detailed plan from the HSE in terms of winter planning. Winter is no longer a time coming down the tracks, it is already here.”
“We are calling on the HSE and Minister Donnelly to outline in detail this week what exactly they are planning for the months ahead and what capacity will be made available from the private sector.”
Overall there have been 54,456 people on trolleys so far this year compared to 45,038 people on trolleys in the same time period in 2020, which the INMO described as “gravel concerning”.
Figures from the union show that there were more patients on trolleys in the three children’s hospitals last month, than any other October on record, and five times more than the same month last year.
The most overcrowded hospital was University Hospital Limerick with 1,369 patients on trolleys, followed by Letterkenny (943), UHG (829), and Cork (688).
Phil Ni Sheaghdha said that if a winter plan for the health service will include the cancellation of elective procedures, then that decision needs to be made now rather than later.
“We need funding to implement the Safe-Staffing Framework, which determines the safe levels of nurse-to-patient ratio. Just like we have a pupil-teacher ratio that advises on the optimum number of children in a classroom to one teacher.”
“We are hearing examples in our hospitals of one nurse to fifteen patients in a ward. This is not a safe environment for the nurse or patients.”
This Saturday, November 6, LittleHill Animal Rescue and Sanctuary will bring hundreds of rescued egg-laying chickens to Athenry and Headford for adoption.
The charity is urging kind-hearted people throughout County Galway to offer a happy home to a few hens, who will otherwise be sent to the abattoir.
At present, the hens are awaiting their fate at a commercial egg farm. On such farms, hens are kept until they reach about 15 months of age, at which point their productivity decreases, but only slightly.
The very small reduction in eggs means that the birds are no longer profitable, so they are culled at this young age to make way for a new flock.
“We’re just suckers for poor little hens who would otherwise be culled; we just can’t leave them to their fate,” explained Susan Anderson, founder of LittleHill Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, based in County Kildare.
“Most of these girls have years of life left in them, and will provide their adopters with an ethical source of eggs for a long time to come.”
Collaborating with several egg farmers across the country, Susan and her team rescue thousands of hens every year, before transporting them around the country to meet their new adopters at prearranged collection points.
Already, hundreds of compassionate people throughout County Galway have decided to make space in their lives for these creatures, with many reporting that their new hens soon become cherished family pets.
Emma Dillon, a hen adopter who lives near Athenry, said that as a family, we consider our hens to be pets and refer to them as ‘the ladies’ – each of whom has a name reflecting their individual character.
Emma was also eager to highlight how keeping rescue hens has helped her family to reduce their impact on the environment. This is an especially pertinent benefit to hen-keeping, as world-leaders meet at the COP26 summit in Glasgow this week.
“In this era of climate change, producing your own food means that you can significantly lower your carbon footprint,” she said, explaining that she avoids the carbon emissions associated with intensive farming, packaging and transport, by not purchasing eggs at the supermarket.
“Our lovely ladies also consume much of our food waste, transforming it into eggs, while also enriching the soil with their droppings and providing natural fertiliser for gardening.”
So, how can you prepare for your new arrivals?
Susan explains that you need a shed, chicken coop, or kennel that can be locked at night to keep the hens safe from predators, and a secure outdoor area for them to roam around in during the day.
“There are many adopters based in Galway city, whose hens are thriving in their small back gardens.”
To adopt a few feathered friends for your own back garden, potential adopters must send a private message to the charity’s Facebook page, LittleHill Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, stating the number of hens they would like to reserve and the collection town for this Saturday: Athenry or Headford.
To cover expenses associated with their rescue and re-homing efforts, the charity asks for a small adoption fee of six euro per hen.
A Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a housing development in the Kingston area of Galway City, rejecting an appeal against the council’s decision.
Diagnostic Medical Imaging Limited sought approval for the construction of 84 houses and apartments on on land at Rosario, Kingston.
Galway City Council had previously rejected the plans last April, saying that the design of the estate would create a road traffic hazard, and expressing concerns about whether the developer had sufficient legal interest in all of the lands in the plans.
Local residents from Garraí de Brun estate said that the developer did not have did have legal right to carry out proposed connectivity works on roads, footpaths, and junctions outside of their site.
It was this reason which was cited by An Bord Pleanála in upholding the city council’s original decision to refuse planning permission.
Their decision said, “It is considered that the applicant has failed to provide evidence of consent, or sufficient legal interest, for the inclusion of lands forming part of the site of the proposed development, and which are essential to enable the development to be implemented.”
“It would therefore be inappropriate for the board to consider a grant of permission for the proposed development in these circumstances.”
The project would have consisted of four blocks of apartments ranging from 4 to 5 storeys in height, containing a total of 65 apartments.
Along with those, it was proposed to build 19 detached and semi-detached houses, as well as a children’s creche.
The original plans had been for a total of 74 homes and a residents’ gym, but the number was increased by the developer during the application process with the city council.
In the appeal, Diagnostic Medical Imaging argued that the issue of land ownership and interest is a “legal matter rather than a planning matter”, and that enough documentation had been provided for a valid planning application.
The assertion that they did not have sufficient legal interest in the lands which make up the planning application was also challenged by the developer.
