Planning permission for a huge isolated nursing home with few local services or community facilities has been overturned following an appeal by An Taisce the National Trust for Ireland. Permission had originally been given by Galway County Council to Coillte, the state forestry board, for a one hundred bed nursing home with nine residential units in the rural area of Carrowbaun near the M6 in East Galway.

A number of grounds for refusal were given, prime among them were that its unsuitable rural location would contribute to piecemeal isolated development in the area. Additionally while it is often necessary for older people to live in nursing homes to avail of the care and safety they can no longer get living alone, placing a home of this nature in an area with poor communications, little public transport and at an unpractical distance from centres of population with churches, shops and social activities, is akin to isolating and abandoning our older people. This kind of development would also have a detrimental effect on water quality, the high water table would mean that in an area with no mains drainage, septic systems could easily pollute ground water and be prejudicial to public health (including possibly the health of the vulnerable people living in the home).

 

This application is part of a wider misplaced commercial agenda by Coillte designed to attract investors if privatisation of the forestry organisation goes ahead. In 2009 Coillte lodged applications for five nursing home developments on its land. One in County Wexford has already been refused along with the Galway  development, and the remaining three are still in the planning system. Other unwise developments which are part of this strategy include the facilitation by Coillte of the unsuitably located Corrib Gas terminal in Co Mayo. The forestry agency is also currently proposing to enter into a deal with Irish Distillers for a poorly placed storage facility in a state forest 9kms from the Irish Distillers plant in Middleton. These developments are being led entirely by availability of the land bank without any regard for proper spatial planning.

 

‘The Galway refusal decision highlights Coillte’s failure to manage the publicly owned forestry land holding in Ireland in the public interest.’ said an An Taisce spokesperson.

 

This decision also shows that Coillte is wasting time and resources by entering into development proposals which are against national planning policy and thereby impugned the competence of the Coillte Board and senior executives in the exercise of their function.

 

An Taisce is calling Coillte to abandon its ill advised commercial property development programme.

 

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Ian Lumley Heritage officer An Taisce on 01 7077064

Or Abby McSherry public affairs officer on 087 9598767