Designers of the €20 million, first phase of the Renmore Masterplan are keen to lodge a planning application quickly while funds are available.
Concept designs shaped by two previous rounds of public consultation were showcased at the Connacht Hotel this week, with emphasis placed on an immediate planning application for sports and play areas along Renmore Avenue.
Sources of funding are yet to be secured for more ambitious aspects of the neighbourhood renovation, including a state-of-the-art community centre with rooftop café, cycling connections to the city centre through the port and rail line routes, and a new pedestrian bridge over the Dublin-Galway railway linking Dún na Mara Drive with council-owned lands between Renmore Barracks and Liam Mellows GAA Club.
Last year, councillors approved a €60 million loan for infrastructure - including neighbourhood masterplans - but upgrading the Galway city museum and fitting-out the local authority’s new Crown Square HQ is expected to eat up at least half this figure. Informed sources said they hoped other public bodies, including the departments of Defence, Education & Youth, Transport, and Culture, Communications & Sport, would provide financial support, alongside EU funding for some seafront elements of the masterplan.
After its third round of public consultation this month, architects and engineers working on the neighbourhood makeover are expected to have designs finalised by June. Galway City Council officials may then lodge a Part VIII planning application for councillors to decide on for a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA ) with 2G surfaces suitable for 20 sports behind Renmore Community Centre, and a mixed play area with landscaping opposite it.
A direct, Part X application to An Coimisiún Pleanála for the rest of the Renmore Masterplan is scheduled for September. This should cover soccer, cricket, rugby and GAA pitches for Nolan Park, with 54 dedicated car-parking bays around it; traffic calming measures from Murrough to Renmore Avenue; a substantial network of cycling and pedestrian routes criss-crossing a district originally planned for fewer cars in the 1960s; and a redesign of public areas opposite Renmore Road shops to create a central focus.
A further Part X application in 2027 will propose a total renewal of the Ballyloughane area, and paths around Lough Atalia, which should link into the Coirib Go Cósta flood defences set to commence in 2030.
These second- and third-stage plans include enhanced pedestrian and cycle routes through Renmore, Ballyloughane and Lough Atalia, dedicated car-parking, raised crossing points to slow traffic, an outdoor classroom, spectator terraces, dedicated dog park, rain gardens, pocket parks with seating, the new community centre, access to Deadman’s Beach, urban beachfront, a bird watching hide, and new pedestrian bridge over the Dublin-Galway railway.
Ballyloughane is to get a play ground, public toilets, outdoor event space, reconfigured community garden, large carpark and a new, two-way inland road to Mellows GAA Club and neighbouring houses after drainage works on the turlough beside the railway embankment. The beachside prom is to be widened, and existing road removed.
Local reaction
The residential neighbourhood of Renmore borders a number of legally complex lands, including national railway infrastructure, military land with security issues, port industrial areas, the Galway Bay Complex Special Area of Conservation, the Inner Galway Bay Special Protection Area, and rare wetland habitats. The undulating topography throughout may create drainage issues militating against certain design choices, and planners say they are aware of small parcels of privately owned land – so-called ransom strips – which may complicate necessary enabling works.
Designers say they are also conscious of cultural and heritage concerns, including ancient settlement patterns in Ballyloughane, remains of a ring fort in Nolan Park, and the possibility of an unmarked burial ground behind Sycamore Court.
A number of local organisation have requested Renmore residents to submit observations to the Masterplan design team on their behalf.
For almost 50 years, the 13th Renmore Scout Group has been camping and pioneering in Renmore. It wants minimal landscaping to the green spaces close to its Scout Den on Renmore Avenue to facilitate this, and access to permanent, segregated equipment storage facilities guaranteed.
St James’ Ladies Football Club says plans for one full-size, and one junior GAA pitch in Renmore is not enough, and it is demanding two full-size pitches for use by its 11 teams.
Renmore Hockey Club, established in 1970, says it has lost access to suitable astroturf pitches in Mervue and Oranmore over recent years when they were upgraded to 3G surfaces better suited to soccer. It is now forced to use night-time slots in Dangan, almost 5km away, and is calling on planners to provide local facilities.
Conversely, Renmore AFC wants football pitches near its clubhouse to be 3G astroturf, with proposed MUGA courts nearby surfaced appropriately for soccer.
Other elements of the concept plan yet to be finalised are how the Athlone to Galway cycle route - a project overseen by Galway County Council - will terminate in Ballyloughane?
How will the Renmore Masterplan link into an expected major overhaul of Renmore Barracks, where historic public access to some military lands is being reduced? And how can bicycle access to the city centre be improved either along The Line - owned by Iarnród Éireann, or through the expanded Port of Galway property?
See https://RenmorePark.com for full project details
