Galway apartment plans rejected over concerns about scale and density
A proposed 16-apartment development in Bearna has been rejected by Galway County Council, which found the project would be out of character with the area and raised concerns about wastewater infrastructure and road safety.
Limehill Esker Claregalway Ltd sought planning permission in November 2025 for a three-storey apartment block at Truskey West, Bearna.
The development proposed 16 apartments, comprising a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units, on a site currently occupied by a dwelling.
The plans included 27 car parking spaces, electric vehicle charging points and alterations to the site’s access arrangements from the public road.
The site is located between the L-13215 and L-1321 roads near Tobar na Luachra estate.
However, Galway County Council refused planning permission, finding that the scale and density of the proposal would be out of character with the existing pattern of development in the more rural area.
Site inspection street view photos from Planners Report
Dwllinghouse proposed to be demolished
Planners report site inspection road view
In its decision, the local authority said the proposal would “intensify the scale of built development in the immediate area and is not in keeping with much of the surrounding built-up established footprint on these lands zoned for Residential Existing use”.
Planners also found that the proposed density was more akin to that expected in a metropolitan setting rather than in an area characterised largely by detached, single-storey homes.
Photo with development rendering in background.
Another reason for refusal related to road safety. The council said the required visibility at the site entrance for vehicles could only be achieved by extending onto neighbouring lands, for which no provision had been made in the application.
The development saw five submissions objecting to the plans. Concerns raised included overdevelopment, effects on the Irish language and wastewater capacity.
Among those to lodge an objection was An Taisce, which raised concerns about the capacity of local wastewater infrastructure.
“As An Taisce has now come to expect, Uisce Éireann ignores entirely the existing deficiencies in the collecting system downstream of the proposed development even though they have been reported in the Galway Drainage Area Plan (DAP),” the submission stated.
The applicant submitted a report from Uisce Éireann indicating that the proposed development was considered feasible without the need for upgrades to wastewater infrastructure.
However, An Taisce urged planners to ensure adequate wastewater measures were in place, noting that the Barna Wastewater Pumping Station has regularly been reported as operating close to capacity.
Galway County Council assistant scientist Fintan Donnelly confirmed wastewater is at times removed from the area by tanker trucks rather than through the conventional sewer network.
“This highlights inadequacies with the system and these issues should be rectified by UE before any further developments are allowed to connect into the wastewater network in Barna,” he wrote.
“There are water quality issues with Truskey Stream bordering the development and the coastal waters at Barna Pier to which Truskey discharges.”
Site layout plan in line with neighbouring estate and access roads.
Questions were also raised about compliance with Gaeltacht housing requirements.
While the application stated that at least 20pc of units would be occupied by Irish speakers with a minimum B2 level of fluency, one submission argued that the proposal did not go far enough to support the language objectives of the area.
The applicant has the option of appealing the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála within the statutory timeframe.