The managers of Galway city and county councils are to meet in the next fortnight to discuss plans for the development of a new town on the east side of the city.
The proposed town of Ardaun, located between Doughiska and Oranmore, is to be home to 18,000 people in one of the most ambitious city expansion projects.
The joint project between the city and county was to become a reality by the year 2011, but there are fears that the development has stalled because of the opposition of a number of county councillors.
They fear that funding which would be needed for the development of existing towns such as Gort, Athenry, Loughrea and Tuam would be diverted to the Ardaun project.
A spokesman for Galway city council said talks were to take place between the manager and executives of both councils to bring the Ardaun project forward.
"Ardaun is still an objective of both councils, and we are working behind the scenes to put together a set of proposals which we will bring before the city and county council members," he said.
However, city councillor Pádraig Conneely (FG) said he did not think the proposals for Ardaun would be approved by county councillors because they feared the project would gobble up funds badly needed for other parts of the county.
He urged the city council to proceed with the provision of housing on the one-third portion of Ardaun already under its control.
Even without the county council's support, the city council would still be able to build 2,000 houses, 20 per cent of which would be social housing.
