Green Party chair consulting on challenge to Galway ring road

The Green Party’s chairwoman has consulted barristers on the possibility of lodging a legal challenge to the proposed Galway ring road.

The €600 million route – running from the existing M6 motorway east of Galway city to Barna in the west – was approved by An Bord Pleanála in early December.

The proposed 18km route, which would require the demolition of 44 houses, would replace plans for the Galway outer bypass, which was approved by the board in 2008 but was effectively struck down by the European Court of Justice five years later.

Senator Pauline O’Reilly said the focus of any possible challenge to the planning approval currently centred on what she said was the board’s “failure” to demonstrate it had taken account of the latest development in Government travel and climate policies, particularly in relation to new assessment criteria for road building and the emissions created by such large roads.

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“I have seen in the board’s decision where it had regard to the Climate Action Plan 2019,” she said, noting that this had been superseded by the Government’s later Climate Action Plan 2021 and that there was nothing to suggest the board’s decision “had regard to the latest climate action plan” .

“It is no secret that I made a submission against this latest [ring road] plan and I have now spoken to some of the other objectors and to barristers to discuss grounds for a judicial review.”

Policies

Section five of the An Bord Pleanála inspector’s report details a range of policies to which the report had regard. These include: Smarter Travel a Sustainable Transport future, a New Transport Policy for Ireland 2009-2020; Spatial Planning and National Roads: Guidelines for Planning Authorities, 2012; the National Development Plan 2018-2027; Project Ireland 2040 – National Planning Framework; Climate Action Plan 2019; and the National Biodiversity Action Plan 2017-2021. It also had regard to the Regional Planning Guidelines for the West Region 2010-2022 and the Galway City Development Plan 2017-2023.

But Senator O’Reilly, a solicitor and former Galway councillor, said many of the Galway development strategies were themselves based on the road being provided. She said the ring road decision did not demonstrate the latest, very significant changes in Government policy since the Greens entered Government in 2020.

For example, she said many schools in Galway were in the centre of the city. The new proposals would see people take their cars, drive along the ring road, then turn into the city to the schools, then back out to the ring road again, instead of finding more sustainable ways to do this – “It is hardly the 15-minute city, ” she said.

The 15-minute city is a residential urban concept in which most daily necessities can be accomplished by either walking or cycling from residents’ homes. It has been heavily advocated by Green Party Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan.

A spokeswoman for Mr Ryan said he had “noted” the decision of An Bord Pleanála. “In terms of next steps, legislation provides for an eight-week period during which such decisions can be challenged in court. If there is no legal challenge, the project will move to the next stage under the public spending code where it will be assessed under a range of criteria including climate impact, ” she said.