Planning permission has been refused for a housing development in Moycullen which attracted heavy opposition from locals who said there is already enough housing planned for the area.
Baile Uà Choirc Fearainn Teoranta planned to build a 48 unit residential development, with a café and creche, at Ballyquirke, Moycullen, at the east end of the village.
The plans, which were reduced from their original scale, included 13 one and two bed independent living units specifically designed for the elderly, along with 34 other houses.
The developer cited the likelihood that people will be wary about putting relatives in nursing homes for some to come as likely to cause increased demand for this type of accommodation for older people.
The county council received a total of 25 public submissions objecting to the development for multiple reasons.
Locals were particularly against a development that is over 90 percent housing, when the land is zoned Village Central/Commercial.
It was also noted that planning permission has already been granted for over 300 residential units in the Moycullen area by the county council recently, making it especially important that if this land is built up, it should be to expand the village’s commercial core.
There were nine main reasons city by Galway County Council for refusing planning permission for the development.
The council said it was not satisfied that the site wasn’t a flood risk based on the information received, and was also not satisfied the development wouldn’t have an adverse environmental and ecological impact on Lough Corrib and Galway Bay Complex conservation areas.
In addition, the county council criticised the proposed design and layout, citing the “undesirable location of the public open space to the rear of the site”, and that the development fails to “satisfactorily integrate with and relate to” adjacent developments.
The design’s failure in “adequately reinforcing the existing urban form of Maigh Cuillinn, contributing to a sense of place, or perpetuating existing or creating new connected streets and public spaces,” would make it contrary to proper planning and sustainable development the county council said.
The council also said that, since the lands are zoned Village Centre-C1, “it is considered that the mix proposed in the development at 92% residential and 8% commercial does not provide for the appropriate development response to give effect to the zoning objectives of this site.”
