May 31 deadline for council boundary review looms

By TONY GALVIN AS local politicians around the county brace themselves for a commission report due at the end of this month which will see significant boundary changes in the five electoral areas: Tuam, Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Oranmore and Connemara, a call has again been made for the amalgamation of Galway City and County Councils. The impact of the electoral boundaries report, which is due to be released on May 31, is causing concern for many elected members of Galway Co Council. While the number of councillors on the Co Council is set to increase from 30 to 39, major area changes could pose both opportunities and problems for those putting their names forward for next yearâ€â„¢s local elections.[private] The number of councillors to which each area is entitled will be decided on the basis of population. This will mean significant changes to cater for the large population growth in the Oranmore Electoral Area but it is not yet known whether this will impact significantly on the Tuam Area. Already the councilâ€â„¢s engineering administration for Oranmore has been amalgamated with Tuam following the closure of the Lackagh office. The pending changes have again prompted Tuam Area Cllr Sean Canney to call for a real rationalisation of local government administration in Co Galway through the merging of the city and county councils. He told The Herald that increasing both bodies in size at a time when savings were being sought didnâ€â„¢t make sense, and he suspected the lack of progress on this front reflected what he termed a â€Å“turf-protectingâ€Â attitude rather than any desire to see the county administered in a more efficient manner. On taking office the current Mayor of Co Galway, Cllr Tom Welby, made it clear that he too favoured the amalgamation of the two bodies, but the issue has not been high on the political agenda since then. Next yearâ€â„¢s local authority elections will be the first not to include the town councils in Tuam, Ballinasloe and Loughrea, which are to be abolished at the end of their current terms. Do it before elections Cllr Canney is arguing that the time to amalgamate the city and county councils is before the forthcoming elections, as it will otherwise cause confusion among the electorate and the opportunity to do so might have to wait another five years. There are currently 29 county councils in the country and five city councils. Of the five city councils, Limerick and Waterford are going, leaving just Dublin, Cork and Galway. With large tracts of Galway city currently under Co Council control, and future expansion projects such as the Ardaun Corridor and the mothballed Athenry industrial development zone firmly within County Hallâ€â„¢s remit, many observers now feel a merger is inevitable. The Co Council already operates many services, such as fire and library, on a county-wide basis and currently controls most of the water and roads infrastructure, although water is coming under the remit of a new authority, Irish Water. Any amalgamation is expected to be opposed by Galway City Council, which would inevitably become the junior partner if subsumed into the larger Co Council operation. Sean Canney told The Herald that the amalgamation of the county and city councils made practical as well as economic sense and at a time when all avenues were being explored to make savings for the Exchequer, serious attention should be given to the level of duplication within local authorities in Co Galway. â€Å“We cannot simply ignore the fact that we have two administrative authorities operating in a county which just does not have the population base to justify both. We have County Hall and City Hall almost within a stoneâ€â„¢s throw of each other and many of the staff in both buildings are carrying out tasks that should be done on a county-wide basis,â€Â he said. Duplication â€Å“There is duplication in very many areas. Housing and planning departments could be shared. We could even save by having just one County Manager for the city and county. â€Å“There are numerous ways in which efficiencies can be achieved, and itâ€â„¢s time we bit the bullet on this one,â€Â he stated. Asked if the City Council would not feel absorbed by the larger county authority he said the County Council is already divided into five distinct geographical areas. It would be simple to create a sixth area for the city and to have everything operating from one headquarters.[/private]