Cosain Climate 🌍 Profile picture
Feb 23, 2023 15 tweets 9 min read Read on X
As recent events in Limerick make clear, having a team of #ActiveTravel staff is no guarantee of progress.

Ireland has deep-rooted, systemic problems with local government, urban planning and the organisation of transport.
One systemic problem that cannot be addressed by throwing money at it is our long-standing practice of developer-led "planning".

If a landowner decides to build something, then something might get built. If not, there seems to be no mechanism or momentum for the State to act.
If a property owner decides to act, or not to act, in a certain way, it seems as if the State, short of a CPO, is unwilling or unable to act. The State uses CPOs to plough motorways nationwide through the countryside, but appears powerless to develop even 20 metres of footpath.
There are innumerable examples of this "planning" chaos all around Galway City. Development, whether by the Council or by private interests, typically occurs in a patchwork. Housing units sprout up here and there more or less at random. Brand new estates are separated by walls.
The developers of these 'pop-up' estates typically claim that their location is ideal for all modes of travel. Every amenity is a few minutes' drive away, top-class public transport services are on your doorstep, and you can "stroll" to the shops.

The reality, as is nearly always the case, looks rather different. Planning applications, promotional websites and sales brochures all have to say the right things, but only in relation to what's inside the 'red line'. The developer and the "planners" need not look beyond it.
In this liminal world of Irish urban "planning", developers can say things such as that "Fánán is only a 5-minute stroll from the local shopping centre", yet neither they nor the planning authority are required to take into account the absence of footpaths outside the 'red line'.
The Irish system of red-lined developer-led urban "planning" means that individual dwellings or wall-separated housing estates can spring up piecemeal along a stretch of road, with each development having no connection to the other.

Footpaths can remain unfinished for decades.
If -- and only if -- Landowner A builds on a piece of land, they will be required to provide a footpath. If Landowner B for whatever reason decides not to build, or can't build, then there will be no footpath on their part of the road.

This situation might persist for 50 years.
The land is private. Only the road is public.

Yet it's the landowner's actions which ultimately determine what happens with the road alignment.

Or it certainly appears that way, in any case.
What else other than the supremacy of private property (as enshrined in Bunreacht na hÉireann, incidentally) might explain how something as simple as a stretch of pavement to walk on is seemingly impossible to achieve, as a public good in its own right?
What other factors might dictate that the need for a public footway must always be subordinated to a landowner's preference for, say, retaining their entire road frontage completely intact, forever?
Discontinuous footpaths on Upper Ballymoneen Road. 👇

Though now in suburbia, and subject to more dense development, these formerly rural roads would have been a sought-after location for that other well-known Irish "planning" phenomenon, "one-off" housing.
Lower Ballymoneen Road. 👇

New developments are required to have a footpath outside. Pre-existing houses can remain as they are, with their curtilage extending to the road's edge.

The Council can "upgrade" the scraps of footpath that already exist. But no more than that.

Why?
These State failures have consequences.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Cosain Climate 🌍

Cosain Climate 🌍 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @cosaingalway

Jun 2, 2021
Imagine, for the sake of argument, that there are two distinct cultures: Irish and European.

An Irish family travels to a European city on an informal 'cultural exchange', on this occasion in the form of a house swap with a couple living in an apartment.
It's summer. The streets, and the apartment block, are pleasant and quiet. The Irish visitors love their short walks to the shop. This being a European apartment, there's a communal laundry in the basement. There's a reservation system for using the washing and drying facilities.
Each machine has a number. Residents write their name and apartment number on a timesheet to reserve a slot for doing their personal laundry.

One of the Irish visitors, hypothetically, strolls down to the basement with a bag of dirty clothes to check out the facilities.
Read 23 tweets
May 30, 2021
Includes a return service.

Note the emphasis on making the route not just safer but also more manageable.
This was the scene in Cappagh Park around 10h00 today. Two bikes parked. Image
Even though the Western Distributor Road is the main route to Cappagh, it's far from being safe, accessible and manageable for people travelling to the park on foot or by bike, even from nearby residential estates.

There isn't even a pedestrian crossing at or near the entrance. Image
Read 15 tweets
Jun 3, 2019
Calgary-based 'Friends of Science' claims to be "a group of earth, atmospheric & solar scientists".

In reality it's an artificial 'astroturf' campaign funded by the oil and gas industry, the purpose of which is to dishonestly attempt to discredit climate science & public policy.
An example of the 'science' and rational thought they claim to espouse. 👇

There is no difference between this kind of mindset and that of any alt-right conspiracy theorist wearing a tinfoil hat in a basement.

#ClimateBrawl
"Climate scientists & environmentalists have long suspected that @FriendsOScience was a front for fossil fuel companies trying to block government action to reduce carbon pollution, but FoS always declined to reveal their source of funding."

#ClimateBrawl
thenarwhal.ca/canadian-clima…
Read 22 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(