From the Galway Bay FM Newsroom:
Galway City Council has deferred voting on a motion calling for Galway to adopt National Park City status.
The motion was brought before the council by Green Party Councillor Niall Murphy at this week's pre-draft plan consultation process meeting for the Galway City Development Plan 2023-2029.
The motion tabled by Councillor Murphy called for a recommendation to be added to the new City Development Plan that Galway will adopt the National Park City initiative mission statement.
The National Park City for Galway initiative, which President Michael D Higgins is a patron of, seeks to make the city a greener, safer, sustainable and wilder environment where people value, benefit from, and are strongly connected to the rest of nature.
The designation was formally launched in 2019 when London became the first city in the world to claim this status.
At this week's City Development Plan meeting, the City Manager Brendan McGrath explained his recommendations for the motion and why he was urging caution.
Mr McGrath said he fully backed the spirit of the concept but warned it could have far reaching implications for planning and economic development in the city.
He said many of its aims are also supported through other plans and strategies at city level such as the Heritage Plan and Climate Adaptation Strategy.
Mr McGrath added that designating a city as a national park does not match the criteria for national park status in Ireland and warned it could impact ambitious projects such as the Cappagh Aquatic Centre and the major redevelopment of Sandy Road.
Mr McGrath's comments were echoed by several Councillors who said they would like to be fully briefed on all the possible implications of the initiative before deciding whether or not to include the proposal in the new City Development Plan.
Ultimately the motion was deferred after a roll call vote, with 11 in favour of the deferral, five against and two absent, and it will be reviewed again later in the development plan process.
