Lorna Siggins,
Western Correspondent
A €270 million plan for three projects including a concert hall on the banks of the Corrib and the upgrade of a busy railway link have been submitted by Galway local authorities to the Government under the National Spatial Strategy.
The bid from Galway is one of a series which could qualify for the first tranche of direct exchequer funding for "gateway" towns and cities.
The nine "gateways" are Athlone/Mullingar/Tullamore (a linked midlands group), Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Letterkenny-Derry, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford.
Under the National Spatial Strategy, a €300 million gateway innovation fund was initiated in last year's budget under the National Development Plan (NDP) for the period 2008-2010. Calls for proposals were issued by former minister for the environment Dick Roche last June.
All nine "gateway" cities/ towns have submitted projects, according to the Department of the Environment, which has appointed Goodbody Consultants to assist in their evaluation.
An inter-departmental committee will make funding recommendations to Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and Minister for the Environment John Gormley, and Mr Gormley expects to bring recommendations on funding allocations to Government in the first quarter of next year.
Galway city and county councils have identified three inter-related projects, which have been drawn up in consultation with NUI Galway and Iarnród Éireann. The first is development of a bus carriageway, "urban avenue" and civic space for the new town of Ardaun on the city/county border, which aims to accommodate some 20,000 people.
The local authorities say that this proposal, for which €28 million is being sought, could "kick start" the new town's development, with a 4,000 square metre square, a "multi-use boulevard-style urban avenue", incorporating connections to key routes, and a "bus-only carriageway/ cycleway" of 1.85km with a busway-avenue link.
It is also seeking €62 million for a 2,500-seater concert and conference hall, which is described as "a landmark facility in the highly prized city centre Fisheries Field site" overlooking the Corrib.
NUI Galway has given its support for this to address a deficit in the city's cultural infrastructure - one which cost Galway its bid for European cultural capital some years ago.
The third project identified by the Galway gateway group involves the application of €180 million to upgrade the rail track between Ceannt Station in Galway city and Athenry in Co Galway over a distance of some 21km.
This will "facilitate the development of further commuter services between Galway, Ardaun, Oranmore and Athenry," it says, and will tie into the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor.
Tom Connell, Galway city director of services for planning and economic development, said that the figures cited amounted to 80 per cent of the cost.
Under the Gateway Fund, some 20 per cent must come from private investment, and Mr Connell said he was confident that the grouping could raise this.
The project team had channelled the proposals through the city and county development boards, and had received considerable support from the public bodies involved, he said.
"We looked at up to 20 projects in total, but these three can be delivered within the fund's three-year period," Mr Connell said.