City Extension Paused As Galway Shelves Plan

A bid to rejuvenate the Headford Road and surrounding areas of Galway - to include a new road link with the Dyke Road - has been shelved by Galway's local authority.

The City Council's planning to deliver the Local Area Plan (LAP) is now 'long term' because of the economic downturn and recent 'decimation' of the Council's revenues.

That's even though private consultants were hired by the Council in early 2008 to come up with an initially much larger plan where it was envisaged to include Headford Road, Quincentenary Bridge, Dyke Road, Seán Mulvoy Road, Bóthar na mBan, St Bridget's Terrace, Galway Retail Park and Galway Shopping Centre and provide an extension to the city centre as a full-scale Framework Plan.


However, it was later decided by the local authority to devise a LAP instead of the more ambitious project, but the Headford Road LAP has now been given 'long-term' status as well.

"Having regard to the current economic climate, the delivery of the draft Local Area Plan objectives are long term," a statement said.

There were associated developments to take place as well, with Almane Properties - which owns the Galway Retail Park - having applied for permission to build a new 2,355 square metre development on the disused site adjacent to the Omniplex, which will include ground floor retail space, first floor offices and four two-bed apartments, but that too now seems to have been put on the back burner.

(BMcC/GK)