An Bord Pleanála has given approval to Galway City Council's plans to redevelop Eyre Square in the heart of Galway.
However, the board has directed that 11 of the square's 100 trees be retained or transplanted close to their present positions, and has said that the historic Browne doorway - originally from the Browne family mansion in Abbeygate Street - be retained or relocated within the square.
An Taisce has described the decision as a vindication of its objections, and has welcomed the protection afforded to some of the city's trees, and to the Browne doorway.
An Bord Pleanála's decision was based on an oral hearing held last September on the environmental impact statement for the project, which was initiated in 1999 by former city manager, Mr Joe Gavin.
The proposed revamp of the Georgian square, which was described by a district court judge last year as the "largest open air arena in the country", was drawn up by Mitchell and Associates, Dublin-based landscape architects, and Muir Associates, consulting engineers.
It aimed to transform the square into a series of plazas on a European theme, and to return the urban space to pedestrians. Most of the square's trees were to be removed and replaced with 90 new ones.
It proposed that formal landscaping be replaced by informal wooded areas, including a sculpture garden where existing features - the limestone figure of Padraic O Conaire, the writer, and the brown hooker sails designed by Eamon O'Doherty - might be relocated. Traffic flow would be altered, and visual "clutter", including public toilets, would be replaced. The public toilets have already been demolished and have been replaced by cubicles.
The project aimed to mark the Millennium, but was only approved by city councillors in June, 2000. At that stage, environmental groups had expressed concern about the fate of certain trees in the square, and An Taisce objected to the lack of an environmental impact statement (EIS).
An EIS was commissioned by the city manager, Mr John Tierney from McHugh Consultants, and was put on public display.
An Bord Pleanála came to its decision based on the current condition of Eyre Square, the provisions of the scheme as set out in the EIS, and the current Galway City Development Plan. It points out that the removal of the Browne doorway would be "injurious to the cultural heritage of the square". It also says that all benches should have wooden seats fixed to proposed concrete seat structures, and it says that a suitable boundary treatment and appropriate seating should be provided for a proposed children's playground area.
An Taisce said the ruling vindicated its decision to challenge the original plan. At the hearing last September, both An Taisce and the Woodquay Residents' Association were critical that there were no senior officials of the city council at the hearing.
