The decision of the recent meeting of the Environment SPC of Galway City Council to recommend the introduction of a pay-back scheme for drink cans is warmly welcomed. As spokesperson for the Galway Friends of the Forests, the local community and environmental group, I applaud the foresight of the Environment SPC on this initiative that was proposed by Councillor Catherine Connolly supported by city officials. This facility will probably be initially based at the Liosbaun recycling centre. The motion will now go forward for ratification to a full meeting of the City Council. The ‘Galway Friends of the Forests’ has been lobbying since 2007 on the need to re-introduce a nationwide payback scheme for take-away beverage bottles as well as cans in order to clean up our parks,...
Big Victory for Galway Community Campaign But Demands for an Investigation into the Abandonment of the Headford Road Framework PlanAs spokesperson of community environmental campaign group the Friends of the Terryland Forest, I called this week for an investigation into the abandonment of the Headford Road Framework Plan almost two years after its completion. The recent decision of all bar two Galway city councillors(Fianna Fáil's Michael Crowe voted against; his brother Ollie Crowe abstained) to support Councillor Derek Nolan’s motion to axe a new road through the Terryland Forest Park from the Galway City Development Plan was to be applauded and represented a great victory for local democracy. The almost unanimous vote of City Council lined up our local elected representatives...
Winter Wonderland in Terryland Forest Park My favourite local community environmental group, the Friends of the Forest, has called on Galway City Council to learn from the lessons of the recent flooding experienced in county Galway by publicly abandoning the controversial proposal to build a road through the low-lying Terryland Forest Park and to finally publish the long-overdue Headford Road Framework Plan with its accompanying 2008 public consultations findings.We have been lobbying for the publication of the Headford Road Framework Plan since the spring of 2008 when we presented a petition with over 10,000 names against the recommendations of city officials to construct a major link road through the Terryland Forest Park with a corresponding widening of the Dyke Road that...
The recent ‘Gaillimh Suas Glan’ initiative coordinated by Galway City Council's Environmental Officer (Sharon Carrol) and City Parks , in conjunction with our group, the ‘Friends of the Forest’ was a very good example of the benefits of council-public co-operation. We are delighted with the response of Galway residents to the first monthly clean-up of the city’s green spaces that proved such a fine . Over a two hour period on a Sunday in November, thousands of pieces of litter were gathered from one section of the Terryland Forest Park. Beverage cans represented the largest class of items collected at 35% followed by drink bottles at 32%.We are concerned though that legislation has not been introduced by the Minister of the Environment for a refundable levy on beverage cans and...
Our Environmental campaign group ‘Friends of the Forest’ have joined forces with Galway City Council in order to implement a new initiative designed to secure public participation in regular major monthly clean-ups of the city’s public spaces.While we fundamentally disagree with local authority officials' still existing plans to build a road through this most precious urban forest park that will all destroy its proposed development as an important ecological corridor , nevertheless we see no reason why we should not work with City Hall to increase public use of the forest and to help eliminate the waste crisis that exists in this important natural heritage area.There is a serious and growing litter problem in parks and other green spaces across the country. However, because of the...
The NGO group that I am chairperson of- the ‘Friends of the Forest’- has decided to maintain the political pressure on Galway City Council by organising a public pro-Tree rally outside City Hall at 6.30pm on Monday October 6th as our local political representatives hold their monthly meeting inside.We see this rally as pro-Galway City Council and pro-city. We simply want our local authority to activate its existing but dormant policies to provide outdoor leisure facilities for all ages, an annual programme of family events in all our main urban parks and the preservation of our increasingly threatened wildlife habitats. We need more plantings not less to transform barren ugly urbanscapes into picturesque leafy suburbs and tree-lined boulevards. Our wonderful natural heritage areas...