GALWAY citizens have until Friday to inspect a rezoning proposal that may shape the future of the city well into the next century.
A large area of blanket bog between Barna and Moycullen is at present designated as either "high scenic amenity" or "outstanding scenic amenity". If an amendment to the draft county development plan is accepted, however, it will be stripped of its high amenity status and "dezoned", i.e. not zoned for any particular purpose.
The same draft plan describes such bogland areas as "extremely vulnerable to all development.
The dezoning proposal also includes land along a corridor between the city and Moycullen village, effectively linking the two for the first time. Moycullen and Barna have grown enormously over the past 10 years, helped by their proximity to one of Europe's fastest growing cities. They may grow even faster in the next decade, if the amendment is accepted.
The rezoned land would overlook a thin strip of land beside Lough Corrib which would retain its "outstanding scenic amenity" tag. It is not hard to imagine the developmental pressures which would come to bear on the shoreline if its hinterland becomes a series of sprawling estates like the ones which have mushroomed over the past decade in Knocknacarragh, between Barna and the city.
According to a concerned Barna resident, Ms Virginia Russell, the proposal is an attempt to hand over "the last remaining open spaces west of Galway city, which are a vital amenity for all the people, to probably unrestricted building development and urban sprawl". Objections have been lodged, a petition has been circulated, and county councillors face a barrage of questions about the plan when they next consider it.
The chairwoman of the Galway branch of An Taisce, Prof Emer Colleran, says it is "absolutely vital" to preserve whatever open spaces are left to the west of the city, given the massive development which has taken place there in recent years.
If its high amenity status goes, them developers will declare "open season" on the area, she says. "In relation to the golf course to the north of Barna, I would see major pressure coming on there for housing estates, as opposed to single houses.
The golf course was the focus of controversy when it was built on virgin bog several years ago. The land now earmarked for dezoning includes what appears at a noticeable bulge on the map, surrounding the golf course.
Dezoning would place intolerable pressures on an already over loaded sewage treatment plant in Moycullen, she says. "That was shown very clearly recently in the study of the Corrib it is grossly and completely overloaded. So if you allow further development up there, all you are doing is adding to a pollution problem in the Barna has no sewage treatment plant, even though its population jumped by 58 per cent between 1991 and 1996. "The whole thing is development without proper planning. It is leaving it open for the development to be pushed by the developer, not within a framework or in a context that people who live in the area can see.
Prof Colleran says she does not know where the pressure for the dezoning is coming from, but she says that any scenic land, i.e. land where development is restricted, will jump in value the minute it is dezoned.
The housing boom has been particularly acute in Galway, with prices rising by as much as 20 per cent over the past year. Some sites #ear the city are now fetching between £50,000 and £60,000.
"For the life of me I can't see why a large chunk of land going north to Moycullen from Barna should have been rezoned. There no indication in the plan as to the reason for it she says.
HER concerns highlight a curious lack of account ability and transparency local planning in Galway. None of the elected members of Galway County Council, nor its officials, seem able to explain why the proposal appeared in the draft county development plan in the first place, nor who made it, nor when it first appeared. It is a complete mystery.
The County Secretary, Mr Tom Kavanagh, declined to comment on the plan, saying that as it is on public display it would be inappropriate to do so. Asked about the origin of the rezoning proposal, he said it was adopted by councillors at a meeting just before Christmas.
Fianna Fail TD Mr Eamon o Cuiv who also sits on the county council and fellow Fianna Fail councillor Mr Sean O Neachtain both insist the proposal came from planning officials, not from the elected members. Privately, a planning official says pressure for the change came from the elected members.
Mr O Cuiv says he does not understand the reasons behind the dezoning proposal, but thinks it is only fair to allow the council officials time to explain their thinking.
The planning official says an original cordon sanitaire around the city was removed by the councillors and only restored to the east of the city following a determined effort by planning officials. "We went back to them again, highlighting the difficulties that would arise," he says. "We asked the members to continue the cordon to the west but it wasn't adopted."
One man who is in a unique position to comment on the controversy is Fine Gael TD, Mr Padraig McCormack. He is the county councillor in the State who is a member of both a county council and a city council, in addition to his Dail duties. As such, he has a unique insight into the need for co-ordinated planning between town and country areas.
Mr McCormack says he would prefer not to make any detailed comment until he has had a chance to consider recent submissions on the issue, but he says it is not proposed as of now to designate the dezoned land for residential development.
The upland bog between Moycullen and Barna is not serviced, and there is "no possibility" of it becoming another Knocknacarragh, he says.
Meanwhile, a Labour Party member of the city council, Mr Jim Mullarkey, has urged the county council to retain the area's high amenity status. This "would integrate the natural ecology of Connemara as it falls towards the Corrib. Not to do so would very significantly breach the geological unity of the area," he said in a submission.
It includes upland areas at Lios a Gharrin (355 ft) and Toin na Brocai (367 ft). "It includes not only the elevated portion referred to but also their related slopes of moorland ... That these abut the city boundary gives their inclusion an added urgency if the integration of the city and county development plans is to be achieved.
"In the current county development plan these areas are zoned as high amenity and reach to the western boundary of the city. It is essential that they retain this status in the new county development plan."