Residents of Barna village in Galway are calling for an inquiry to be carried out into planning in the area and for all large-scale development to be put on hold until a proper area plan is in place.
The scenic seaside village, three miles from Galway city is in danger of being completely overwhelmed by high-rise residential and commercial developments, but local residents are prepared to fight to save their village.
Serious concerns about certain planning decisions made in the Barna area were raised at the agm of Pobal Bhearna, the group actively campaigning to protect the village from unsustainable development. Over 250 people, including five of the seven Connemara area county councillors, signed a petition at the meeting calling for a stay on all further large-scale development in the village until an area plan is put in place by the county council. They are also calling on the county manager to conduct a full inquiry into the way in which certain planning decisions were made in Barna over the past few years.
A spokesperson for Pobal Bhearna said the council's planning section seemed to be pushing through big developments at high speed, while local residents could not get permission for small one-off houses.
"Local people can't build on their own land for their own families, and yet the big boys are coming in without impunity and getting permission to build," he said. "Barna should be developed along the lines of the seaside villages of Kinvara and west Cork, instead of allowing the monstrosities that are being built here."
He said the county council kept moving back the area plan for Barna and the absence of such a policy meant the big developers were unrestricted.