Construction of 197 homes just outside Barna at Truskey East will begin in just a few weeks as work is scheduled to start in January.
Burkeway Homes have been given approval this week by An Bord Pleanála for this €60 million project after a previous application for the same site was shot down.
Last February it was decided that the proposed 113 home development lacked sufficient density and variety of homes, and Burkeway came back with a fresh application in August for 197 homes.
Galway has been sorely pressed for any kind of accommodation, and this development will cater to every type of buyer with a good mix of one and two bed apartments, two and three bed duplexes, and three and four bed houses.
On top of desperately needed housing, up to 150 jobs are expected to be created when Phase 1 of the development begins in January.
Working with McCauley Daye O’Connell architects, this 18 acre project will be more than just cookie cutter housing.
An open space covering a full four acres of the site will include a creche, an outdoor putting green, playground, and all-weather surface for year-round play.
Or if you just wan to walk and breathe in the air, then the tranquil walks along the banks of the Truskey Stream, which runs through the centre of the development.
An old orchard on the site is also going to be restored and turned into a walled garden to give residents of the area somewhere to rest in the shade under the leaves.
With work commencing early next year, people could be opening the front door of their new home as early as 2020.
The planning application for this housing was fast tracked under the Strategic Housing Development process, which lets projects go straight to An Bord Pleanála after preliminary discussions with the local authority.
As part of this process the county council insisted that the development must maintain connectivity with the village of Barna half a kilometre away.
A pedestrian pathway running along the Barna to Moycullen road will be delivered in the first phase of constriction to ensure the communities are kept connected at every step, to the benefit of new residents and the local economy.