Galway County Council has approved plans for the construction of a standalone extension to Gort Community School.
The Board of Management at the community school has been granted planning permission for a building with six new classrooms, and a total floor space of 550m².
The new building is going on land that is currently car parking for the school, and some grassland next to the pitch.
Among the six conditions attached to the grant of planning permission, the county council stated that along with the nine parking spaces for this building, the nine lost must also be provided for on the site.
An archaeological impact statement was prepared with this planning application, due to the site’s proximity to two recorded ringforts.
“There is some potential for the project to have an impact on below ground archaeological features or deposits, although the construction of the car park, pitches and other elements of the school complex may already have caused extensive disturbance,” the report stated.
To mitigate this risk, the county council added a requirement to the planning permission that an archaeologist must assess the site before work begins, and monitor any sub-surface works.
