GALWAY Corporation has ordered work on a £30 million dock lands development in the city to be stopped.
The assistant town clerk Ms Martina Maloney, said that the corporation had been compelled to issue a warning notice under the Planning Act after finding that the development was not in compliance with conditions laid down by An Bord Pleanala.
"We are not satisfied that the development is in accordance with the planning permission which was set out for it", Ms Maloney said. "It is an unauthorised development, which should be ceased immediately. The developers have tub stop all work on the site. If they persist, we will have to seek an injunction against them."
O'Malley Construction Ltd was granted permission to build 139 residential units, a hotel, offices and a multistorey car park at Long Walk, but later amended its application by substituting a pub and more apartments for the hotel plan.
A spokesman for the developers, Mr Michael Murphy, said: "We are totally dismayed by this notice and we don't agree with it. We have not, in our opinion, contravened the planning conditions."
A two day oral planning hearing took place after the corporation granted permission for the development, subject to 33 conditions. Cairde na Gaillimhe, An Taisce, the Western Regional Fisheries Board and the Green Party joined local residents in appealing the corporation's decision to An Bord Pleanala.
They expressed concern about the development's likely impact on water quality of the Corrib river, the increase in raw sewage entering the mouth of the river and visual intrusion in such a historic part of the city.