Galway Bay fm newsroom:
Shading at the Menlo Viaduct along the proposed Galway City Ring Road will not adversely affect limestone pavement.
That's according to Gerry Clabby from the National Parks and Wildlife service who made a submission on behalf of the Department Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht at today's oral hearing.
The oral hearing was informed this morning, that in relation to shading, limestone pavement and its associated habitat and species occur across a spectrum of light levels.
These range across open pavement to shaded grikes, through to scrub and woodland.
As the proposed viaduct is generally orientated East-West, the impact of shading will be lessened.
In addition, the main orientation of the gyrkes is North-South - meaning plants growing in the gyrkes are already shaded in an East-West direction.
For these reasons, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht don't perceive any issue with shading at the proposed Menlo Viaduct.
For more on this story, tune into the Galway Bay fm news...
