Labour general election candidate Derek Nolan has called on City councillors to undo the disastrous re-zonings carried out during the main stages of the City Development Plan last September. At the time, a majority of councillors voted against explicit advice from planners and rezoned 20 acres of land for shop/retail (commercial) use.

The City Development Plan is due to be completed this Friday and the following Monday. Due to public objections, the controversial commercial rezonings will have to be voted on again.

Cllr Nolan said, “120 acres of land in Galway City was rezoned for retail/shop use from 2005 to 2011 against the clear advice of City Planners. 20 acres of that occurred in last September’s Development Plan. This Plan is a strategic document that seeks to achieve balanced and sustainable development. What a majority of councillors did, and have evidently been doing for some years, was to throw those principles out the window in favour of the wishes of individual applicants. Worse still, they gave no real planning reasons for the changes.”

City Planners objected to the re-zonings as being against Galway’s retail strategy, and attacked the viability and vibrancy of commercial life in the City Centre.

One of the most controversial re-zonings occurred at the Galway Clinic roundabout where councillors zoned adjacent land for a petrol station and drive-through restaurant.

“This zoning occurred despite pleas from city planners to the contrary. It was pointed out that the NRA would likely refuse access to the location as it is on a primary road and between a traffic light junction and roundabout. Moreover, they said that any development at this location would be a major threat to public safety and a serious traffic hazard. To see some councillors blindly ignore this advice, and vote regardless was something I thought I would never see in the chamber.

It is time for those councillors to do the right thing and undo the reckless, negligent and thoughtless zonings they have voted for.”

Labour general election candidate Derek Nolan has arranged a meeting between management at Galway Airport and Labour’s Transport Spokesperson Joe Costello TD. The meeting which takes place in the Dáil this Wednesday comes in the wake of a recommendation to close the airport and to end the Public Service Obligation (PSO) funding for the Galway to Dublin route.

“I will travel to Dublin to attend the meeting and to express my view that Galway Airport plays a vital role in the economic activity of Galway City, particularly as an investment location for large employers. It is a selling point used by the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, and provides important connectivity to important transport hubs. It also sustains countless jobs in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Cllr Nolan said that jobs must be central to decision making. “If the economic analysis shows that future jobs will be lost, or existing jobs jeopardised, then the decision to end the funding is surely a false economy and flawed. With the live register figures for Galway at a record high of 23,099, we cannot afford to lose a single job.

Cllr Nolan also expressed regret at the decision of Galway Chamber of Commerce to exclude a Labour representative from their meeting today (Monday), “Our Oireachtas member Michael D Higgins was in Dublin on Dáil business this Monday. I would have thought that it made sense to have another Labour representative present to hear what they had to say, but that was their decision.”

Duirt iarrthóir Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre san olltoghchán atá romhainn, an comhairleoir Derek Nolan, go gcuirfidh na rialacha nua maidir leis an deontas cothabhála isteach go mór ar mhicléinn i nGaillimh a bheidh ag dul go dtí an ollscoil nó an GMIT.

“Go bunúsach tá athrú ag teacht sa mhéid go gcaithfidh micléinn bheith 45 km ón ionad oideachais a mbeidh said ag freastal air chun an ráta is airde a fháil, in áit an 24km atá ann faoi láthair.  Cuirfidh seo isteach ar mhicléinn i gConamara, ms I Ougherard, Indreabhan agus Rossaveel, agus freisin ar taobh eile den cathair I Loughrea angus Tuam.

Mar sin caithfidh cuid mhaith micléinn aistear fada a dhéanamh gach lá mar nách mbeidh siad in ann íoc as lóistín sa bhaile mór.  Dar le Fianna Fáil, ba chóir do na micléinn úsaid a bhaint as an gcoras taistil poibli, ach tá fhios ag gach éinne nách bhfuil na seirbhísi sinn ar fónamh.

Beidh an pionós seo á chur ar na micléinn chomh maith leis na táillí breise a bheidh a íoc acu leis an ‘student service charge’ ag dul in áirde.

Bhí cruinniú agam le Comhaltas na Macléinn san Ollscoil agus GMIT agus tá siad an-bhuartha go mbeidh deacrachtaí ag alán micléinn i mí Meán Fomhair seo chugainn mar gheall ar seo, agus aontaím go h-iomlán leo.  Cuirfidh sé isteach go mór ar na tuismitheoirí atá cheana féin buailte le cáin breise agus giorraithe páigh.  Ceapaim gurb é an toradh as  seo nách ndéanfaidh na micléinn freastal ar choláistí ina gceantar féin agus go gcaithfidh said dul go dti coláistí i gcontaetha eile.  Níl ciall ar bith le seo mar pholasaí.

Creidim féin agus Páirtí an Lucht Oibre gur cheart go mbeadh teacht ar oideachas triú leibheál ag gach macléinn sa dúthaigh agus déanfaidh mé gach ar mo chumas chun an polasaí seo a athrú.”

The number of people signing on in Galway last December increased by 1.8% over the previous month according to figures published by the Central Statistics Office on Thursday. The Live Register for Galway now stands at 23,099, up 408 from November.

Labour Cllr Derek Nolan says the figures show that while the export sector is performing well, the local economy is still in decline.

“You only have to walk down the street in Galway and see the ever increasing number of empty shop units. This is visible face of a domestic economy that is in shatters. Unemployment is ravaging people’s lives and killing jobs in the retail and services sector.

The government seems content to do nothing. We need action at national level to get Galway’s local economy working again. That involves putting people back to work building vital infrastructure, insulating homes, working in the community, rather than spending millions on dole payments for people who want to work. Surely this is the greatest waste of public money.”

Labour general election candidate and Chairperson of the City’s Housing Committee Cllr Derek Nolan has called plans to strip local authorities of their housing role as a backward, bureaucratic and undemocratic step. Reports from government indicate that the functions of various housing authorities would be merged into single bodies.

“Since being elected as a councillor I have come to view our role as a local housing authority as one of our most important, and one that has a very real impact on people’s lives. Stripping away that direct local accountability, where officials are answerable to local representatives, will further erode local democracy and accountability.

As local councillors we decide housing policy, we decide tenant policy and anti-social behaviour policy. We also witness when administration fails or is not up to scratch and we can raise these issues at Council level and have action taken. To take away the direct connection is to remove communication, accountability and the regular flow of communication.

We have seen how attempts in the past to streamline health boards and create the HSE severely damaged accountability and administration. To create another centralised HSE type body for housing makes no sense at all.

Local housing authorities were created for very specific reasons – in that local knowledge is vital to housing success. A regional body will have little knowledge of area issues, for example where more housing is inappropriate and how neighbourhoods are functioning and interacting. This is local knowledge, fed through local representatives elected by their community.

It is a vital, democratic role that should be valued and developed – not thrown away.

The long awaited neighbourhood and community centre for the Ballinfoile/Castlegar area will go before city councillors for planning permission next week. The plans went on public display in December.

Labour Cllr Derek Nolan has welcomed the progress on the issue and has urged councillors to support the plans.

“This community centre has been a decade in the planning and preparation. We have seen many false dawns in the past and seen the scheme collapse entirely in 2009 due to the lack of a business partner. These new plans are entirely Council lead and Council designed, and in my view represent a better, more community focused plan.

The community centre will be built opposite the Tesco Store on the Headford Road. It will include 3 meeting rooms, a multi purpose space, changing rooms, offices and a large indoor playing area. I am particularly keen to ensure that the centre also acts as a focal point for walks and enjoyment of the Terryland Forest Park.

The people of Ballinfoile/Headford Road have been badly let down by continual delays in this project, so much so that an entire generation of young people have missed out on its benefits. It’s time for this project to move ahead now. If planning is granted, then I will monitor every step of this project until the centre is actually constructed.”

Labour selects Derek Nolan to contest General election in Galway West

Cllr Derek Nolan has been selected as Labour Party Dail Candidate for Galway West. The selection was made at a Selection Convention in the Menlo Park Hotel last Friday, 11 November.

Cllr Nolan was elected to Galway City Council in June 2009, and with Cllr Tom Costello, represents the Galway City East Ward.

Since his election Cllr Nolan has served as chair of the council’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee and is a member of both the Galway City Development Board and City of Galway VEC.

Cllr Nolan is a trainee solicitor, and at 28, is the youngest candidate the Party has selected to run in the next General Election to date.

Speaking after his selection, Cllr. Nolan said: “For the first time in 41 years Michael D Higgins is not putting his name forward to contest a general election in our name and on our behalf, and he will certainly be a hard act to follow.

“There was great comfort in the knowledge that in Michael D we had a candidate of character, integrity, passion and intellect – who would fight the good fight, and above all who we could trust to represent our values and lead our collective action.

“To me, the Labour Party is something very special. As a party we share an outlook that asks not just about ourselves, but about others too, not just about Ireland, but about elsewhere too, and not just about people now, but about tomorrow’s generation too. We are the party of solidarity, which is to my view, our greatest differentiator and our greatest strength.

“In Galway West, we will play our role in building support for a Labour-led government in Ireland: for a new way of thinking; for reform of politics; for fairness in policies; and for our leader Eamon Gilmore as Taoiseach.”

A singular focus on developing the Smart economy will not tackle Galway’s jobs crisis and will exclude people from the workforce, Labour general election candidate Cllr Derek Nolan has warned.

Cllr Nolan says that a large and skilled construction workforce in Galway is frustrated at being unable to work and that the sector is continuing to experience employment freefall.

“CSO figures show that national construction output is down over 30% on 2010 and this has lead to further significant unemployment through contract conclusions and lay-offs. We need a strategy to create jobs in this sector where people are already highly skilled and qualified.

“A jobs strategy that looks purely to a Smart economy will ignore those who are not qualified to play a part in that economy. Neither is it possible that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created in research and development for example. The Smart economy should be but one very important part of an overall jobs strategy. We need a tourism jobs strategy, a SME jobs strategy, a renewable energy strategy and so forth.

Ireland also needs a strategy for construction and economic stimulus. Labour has proposed a strategic investment bank to get people back to work in this area straight away, building the classrooms to replace school prefabs, building hospitals extensions and retrofitting homes. Every person on the dole costs the State €20,000. These people want to work. It is better to pay people to work and develop the economy than sit and watch their skills fade.

The unemployment crisis is too great to place our economic hopes on one sector. We need a broad based jobs strategy that values the skills and talents already in the workforce while developing and investing in new ones.

Plans to tackle the problem of housing refusals by local authority applicants are urgently needed according to Labour’s general election candidate Councillor Derek Nolan.

Problems with estate upkeep, management and anti-social behaviour have seen some local authority houses refused up to 7 times by prospective tenants.

Cllr Nolan who is Chair of the City’s Housing Committee has called for urgent action on the issue in the New Year.

“Housing applicants are waiting anything up to 10 years for a local authority house, so they do not refuse them lightly. We have some houses being refused up to 7 times and this is totally unacceptable. It is often the case that the house itself is not the issue, but the behaviour of a specific neighbour, the upkeep of the estate or wider anti social behaviour. The Council has accepted that these are real issues in a minority of Council estates. Now we need to put in place a strategy to deal with this problem once and for all.

My committee passed a strict anti-social behaviour policy last October which established tough penalties for anti social behaviour. But the issue is broader than that – it includes involving all Council departments from Roads and Parks to Housing and Community. In my view the strategy must create a benchmark below which no estate may fall, and this benchmark should cover all the relevant concerns.”

The Housing Committee will begin work on the strategy in January.

A controversial decision on whether or not to give away 21 acres of City Council-owned land to the governments “Land Aggregation Scheme” has been deferred for 2 years. The scheme would see the City Council’s housing landbank reduced by over 60%, but would see the Council’s loan liability for the lands written off.

Cllr Derek Nolan, who proposed the deferral on behalf of the Labour Party said it made sense to hold on to the land as long as possible.

“With 4,000 applicants, the City Council housing list is at an all time high. This land bank is badly needed if we are to begin to tackle the problem. Our housing land bank as its stands is insufficient. We need every acre.

Interest on these loans will not be payable by the Council until 2013 at the earliest. That means we have 2 years to find funding to develop the land. Hopefully, a new government will use housing provision as a way of tackling the waiting list, and putting people back to work.

The deferral makes sense. It saves the land bank, gives us time to source funding for building on it, and will not cost the Council anything.

I am calling on the government to change its stance on housing and divert current funding for housing leasing into housing construction.”