72pc of Galway residential land is unusable and €75m is needed to fix it, report finds
A €75m budget is needed to restore zoned residential lands across the county, according to a new Galway County Council report.
A review was recently conducted by the local authority to assess zoned residential lands throughout County Galway, including metropolitan areas, to highlight what constraints these lands have that would inhibit development.
The report was read by Director of Services Damien Mitchell at a Galway County Council meeting on Monday, September 22.
The report found that 741ha of land is zoned residential, enough for the capacity of 18,800 residential units. At this time, 10pc of that land has approved planning permissions for development and 72pc cannot be developed for a variety of infrastructure concerns.
Those concerns include inadequate footpaths, public lighting, water networks, wastewater treatment plants, and electricity lines.
The review divided lands into short-term, medium-term, and long-term categories, depending on how quickly they could be made development-ready.
Short term lands had no major constraints and it was estimated it would take up to three years to develop given the proper infrastructure. Medium term found lands were un-serviced and had constraints that would require between three and five years to solve. Long-term or excluded land faced significant barriers making them ineligible for development.
Estimated costings for the county council for medium-term land approaches €34m to bring the land to suitable use while the cost of the long-term land is €41.5m.
To prepare those lands for future development the council plans to seek funding from the government, providing the report to the Housing Activation Office.
Chief executive Leonard Cleary told the elected members that the report will go to the Housing Activation Office on October 7, and he believes “there will be funding coming” from it.
If funding does come through, the chief executive stated that it will be an “investment to create an asset” and will not be a loan. Therefore, the funding will not need to be paid back.
Some councillors questioned whether higher planning application and submission fees might help ensure applicants are serious, with chief executive Leonard Cleary agreeing that changes are needed.