Galway council gives green light for parish offices

GALWAY County Council has cleared the way for new parish offices to be built close to St Colman’s Church in Gort.
Local parish priest Fr Tommy Marrinan applied in April this year to undertake alteration and extension works on existing sheds and outbuildings close to the church and to change their use to a meeting or multi-purpose room, with the second building to be used as parish offices.
The local authority’s decision on the application was delayed when Galway County Council sought further information after receiving a submission stating that the site of the works was within the curtilage of a protected structure.
A submission made by Ray Kenny of Kilroy’s Bar in the Square, Gort in mid-May outlined that the Kilroy’s building is a protected structure and that the site of the proposed development is adjacent to both it and “a further protected structure”, the church, which was originally built in 1825. Mr Kenny’s submission stated the design proposal had not considered these protected structures and added that “there is no design statement, contextual drawings, sections or other relevant data to clarify the negative impacts that may be had on the protected structures”.
“The applicant has not made any statement regarding archaeology, nor has any archaeological report been prepared as per the requirements of the Gort Local Area Plan, which is a requirement for all development within 30 metres of a protected structure and in particular the proposed development shares the western boundary with my property which is a protected structure,” Mr Kenny’s submission continued.
Galway County Council requested further information stating the applicant was required to submit drawings, photos and photomontages or other visual material necessary to show the proposed development and its relationship to and potential impact on the protected structures.
OCCE responded stating that the proposed development is not contained within the curtilage of the church and supplied a copy of the title deeds showing that “the proposed development is contained within its own folio”. The firm also supplied a photo montage of the proposed development and stated that it was “unlikely to generate any more traffic than exists on the access lane way”.
Galway County Council last week granted permission for the development subject to five conditions.