According to the group's spokesperson and member of the steering committee, Brendan Smith, "An independent consultant was appointed by City Hall last April to review the operations of the dormant Terryland Forest Steering Committee and to recommend how it could be reactivated, resourced and supported to fulfil its mandate of overseeing the development of what was once Ireland's largest community-supported urban forest park project."

The Friends of the Forest group campaigning to save Terryland Forest Park has expressed serious concerns at the council's delay in publishing the report into the operations of the Terryland Forest Steering Committee.

According to the group's spokesperson and member of the steering committee, Brendan Smith, "An independent consultant was appointed by City Hall last April to review the operations of the dormant Terryland Forest Steering Committee and to recommend how it could be reactivated, resourced and supported to fulfil its mandate of overseeing the development of what was once Ireland's largest community-supported urban forest park project."

However, according to Mr Smith, the report "seems to have disappeared off the radar", with requests as to its status going unanswered by the local authority. He is calling on Mayor Padraig Conneely to ensure the report is published by the end of 2008.

Speaking to the Galway Independent, Cllr Conneely said it was in everybody's interests that the report be published on time. He said he expects the council to honour the deadline set down.

The report was commissioned largely as a result of public anger over the proposals to construct a road through the Terryland Forest Park that would link onto an expanded Dyke Road from the Quincentennary Bridge.

The campaign group argues that such a development would terminate the park as an important ecological corridor and go against the council's own environmental policies.

Earlier this year, over 10,000 people signed the petition to stop the road and to demand a re-instatement of the park as a community-driven project that would function as vital natural heritage area, an 'outdoor classroom' and a recreational family activity zone.

However, according to Brendan Smith, "current City Hall lethargy on the issue is destroying the strong sense of goodwill that once existed towards the council through this project and contributing still further to a growing sense of alienation towards our state institutions."

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