Galway Bay fm newsroom - There are calls for Galway City and County Councils to take advantage of a proposed extension for the consideration of development plans.
Both Local Authorities are currently formulating their respective development plans - with the city's due to run from 2023 to 2029, while the county plan will cover the period 2022 to 2028.
Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cúiv has received confirmation from the Local Government Minister Darragh O'Brien that legislation is to be introduced to allow councils to avail of a six month extension.
In response to a parliamentary question tabled by Deputy Ó Cúiv, Minister O'Brien confirmed that the draft legislation would allow Local Authorities to avail of an extension for the completion of a development plan process which either began or got underway during Level 5 COVID-19 restrictions.
Deputy Ó Cúiv argues the ongoing pandemic has made this type of work particularly difficult as thousands of pages of documents cannot be properly interrogated or discussed properly at online meetings.
He feels both the city and county councils should avail of the extension.
