Galway city land left ‘unzoned’ following row between local authority and planning watchdog

Eleven parcels of land across Galway city have been left “unzoned” following a row between the local authority and a planning watchdog.

The unzoned parcels of land are located at some of Galway city’s key growth areas such as Roscam, Castlegar and Coolagh.

As it stands, the lands fall outside of the normal planning system, and it is unclear if they can be legally used for any purpose.

The situation has come about after months of disagreement between elected officials in Galway and the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR), over the recently adopted Galway City Development Plan.

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Newly elected mayor of Galway city, Eddie Hoare (FG), said the decision has effectively sterilised the land, saying landowners cannot legally “graze a cow” on their land.

He also accused the OPR of being “very firm and very bullish” and said that the National Planning Framework was “at odds” with the needs of Galway.

Acting chief executive of Galway City Council, Patricia Philbin, said she has “serious concerns” about the situation and was urged by elected members to seek legal advice about the unzoning.

Last year, the OPR raised concerns with the council about the zoning designation of each of the eleven parcels of land in the Draft Galway Development Plan 2023-2029.

It warned that these parcels of land were not consistent with national planning regulations.

Despite these warnings, councillors voted to go ahead with their desired zoning for each area. This prompted the OPR to recommend that Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell (FG) intervene.

Mr O’Donnell has written to the council directing the local authority to alter the development plan. However, instead of dezoning the lands back to their previous planning designation, or assigning them a new zoning, Mr O’Donnell said that the eleven parcels of land should be considered “unzoned”.

In response to this, the council wrote to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, requesting that it allocates some legal zoning to the land.

This request was refused by the Minister of State, who suggested that the planning anomaly be rectified by the elected members of Galway City Council.

Cllr Hoare blames the OPR for this situation, rather than his party colleague, Mr O’Donnell.

“This is unfamiliar territory. There has never been a development plan before with unzoned land in it. I think it might be prudent to seek legal advice about this. I would also suspect that some landowners will seek advice, there is a question as to whether having unzoned land is legal,” he said.

“There is widespread disappointment amount the elected members and the members of the public with regard to the input of the OPR in the development plan process. That is where our issues lie, rather than with the Minister.”

This land can be zoned again either by a material alteration of the current development plan by Galway City Council, or as part of the next development plan, which comes into place in 2029.

Cllr Hoare says a material alteration will be time consuming and is unlikely to resolve the situation.

“The national planning framework is a little bit at odds with what is happening on the ground here in Galway,” he said.

“If we do this [a material alteration], the OPR can come back at us again and effectively unzone it. Then we’re going around the houses again.

“I don’t think the members views are going to change about these properties. Unfortunately, unless something changes, these lands will likely remain unzoned for the life of this development plan.

“The OPR have been very firm and very bullish right through this process.”

A spokesperson from the Department of housing reiterated the position of Mr O’Donnell, stating that the matter “would be most appropriately determined by the elected members of Galway City Council”.

The OPR was contacted in relation to this story but no comment was received at the time of going to press.