Rockbarton residents call on GAA to accept sign refusal decision

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Written by Avril Horan

Wednesday, 15 August 2007

The residents of Rockbarton Road in Salthill have appealed to the GAA to accept a decision by city planners who have blocked plans for a large sign at Pearse Stadium. City planners have turned down the application for the controversial sign, which would have run the length of the Rockbarton Road Terrace.

Residents were up in arms over the plans and strongly objected to the proposed sign, which would have been one meter deep and 80 meters in length. They said the sign would “obliterate all evening light, would severely impact the aesthetics and visual amenity of the area, and would devalue property in Rockbarton Road”.
City planners have agreed with the residents concerns and refused the application. Noel Molloy of the Rockbarton Road Residents has now called upon the GAA to accept the decision and not take it any further by lodging an appeal.

“As the local authority and the residents have reached the same conclusion that the proposal is not in keeping with the area we believe the GAA should accept this. We also believe it appropriate that they no longer solicit invitations to sponsor these signs through their website or elsewhere,” he said.

The Rockbarton Road residents have been fighting a long battle to maintain their living conditions in the area. They have argued that proposed developments at Pearse Stadium, including another application for floodlight masts, shows “a total lack of respect or acknowledgement of the needs of the residents and are generally injurious to our quality of life”.

City planners ruled the controversial sign would be contrary to proper planning and development. In refusing the application, they agreed that it would be a “visually obtrusive feature, which would be out of character with and seriously detract from the visual amenities of the area”. They said it would go-against the City Development Plan and would conflict with conditions already set down restricting the height of the terrace.

The planning conditions already set out for Pearse Stadium stated that:

‘The upper level of the proposed terrace (exclusive of safety fence) on the eastern end of the pitch shall not exceed 1m in height over the adjoining site boundary wall’. The application for the sign on top of the Rockbarton Road Terrace was designed to be 2.7m to the underside of the sign and 3.7m to the top of sign – far in excess of the conditions set out in the original plans. As a result, city planners have rejected the plans for the sign. Residents in the area will have to wait to see if the refusal will be appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

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