Galway County: why applications are refused, and the conditions permissions carry
Counted from Galway County’s own decision notices: 1,715 of its 1,755 decisions made from 25 October 2025 to 25 October 2026 (98%). Findings, not verdicts — each figure is a share of the notices read.
- 1,715
- of 1,755 decisions, last 12 months
- 268
- of 278 refused or part refused
- 1,409
- of 1,477 granted or part granted
- 10
- the median permission read
Why applications are refused
Grounds cited in refusals
A notice counts once for each theme it cites, however often it cites it — the share of refusals refused at least partly on that ground. A notice can cite several, so the shares do not add up to 100%. The 12 most common of 18 are drawn; the table has them all.
Show the numbers
| Theme | Notices | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Contrary to development plan policy | 255 | 95% |
| Traffic safety, access and sightlines | 150 | 56% |
| Undesirable precedent | 127 | 47% |
| Design, scale and visual impact | 115 | 43% |
| Insufficient information | 112 | 42% |
| Landscape, scenic views and routes | 84 | 31% |
| On-site wastewater and public health | 78 | 29% |
| Ecology, Natura 2000 and appropriate assessment | 73 | 27% |
| Environmental effects (noise, emissions, EIA) | 58 | 22% |
| Water supply and public sewer capacity | 58 | 22% |
| Other | 57 | 21% |
| Rural housing policy and local need | 55 | 21% |
| Density, layout and residential standards | 40 | 15% |
| Flood risk | 31 | 12% |
| Neighbours' amenity (overlooking, overshadowing, overbearing) | 29 | 11% |
| Zoning and land use | 29 | 11% |
| Protected structures, ACAs and archaeology | 18 | 7% |
| Premature pending infrastructure or a plan | 6 | 2% |
The conditions permissions carry
Kinds of condition attached
A notice counts once for each theme it cites, however often it cites it — the share of permissions given at least one condition of that kind. A notice can cite several, so the shares do not add up to 100%. The 12 most common of 20 are drawn; the table has them all.
Show the numbers
| Theme | Notices | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Built as per the plans and particulars | 1,409 | 100% |
| Surface water and drainage (SuDS) | 1,352 | 96% |
| Restrictions on use or further development | 1,241 | 88% |
| Protecting neighbours (screening, glazing, noise, light) | 1,109 | 79% |
| Entrance, sightlines, roads and parking | 1,094 | 78% |
| Materials, finishes and design changes | 1,059 | 75% |
| Construction hours and management | 988 | 70% |
| On-site wastewater treatment system | 970 | 69% |
| Landscaping, hedgerows, trees and boundaries | 733 | 52% |
| Development contributions and security bonds | 624 | 44% |
| Uisce Éireann water and sewer connections | 552 | 39% |
| Other | 485 | 34% |
| Occupancy and local-need conditions | 416 | 30% |
| Waste management | 371 | 26% |
| Ecology (bats, nesting birds, AA mitigation) | 318 | 23% |
| Duration or temporary permission | 91 | 6% |
| Archaeology and built heritage | 71 | 5% |
| Estate completion, lighting, naming and taking in charge | 39 | 3% |
| Energy, EV charging and climate | 25 | 2% |
| Part V social housing | 22 | 2% |
By type of development
| Type | Notices read | Refusals: most cited | Permissions: most common conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural | 13599% of decisions | 27 read — too few |
|
| Alterations | 14997% of decisions | 10 read — too few |
|
| Change of use | 4796% of decisions | 9 read — too few |
|
| Commercial | 59100% of decisions | 8 read — too few |
|
| Extension | 23999% of decisions |
|
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| Infrastructure | 6095% of decisions | 8 read — too few |
|
| New dwelling | 56598% of decisions |
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| Retention | 33297% of decisions |
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Shares are of the refusals or permissions whose notice was read. The conditions column leaves out “built as per the plans and particulars”, which nearly every permission carries. A group with fewer than 30 notices read shows its count and no breakdown.
About the figures
PPI’s reader reads each decision notice, finds every refusal reason and condition in it word for word, and tags each with what it is about from a fixed list. A figure counts notices: a refusal citing flood risk in two of its reasons counts once for flood risk. Reasons and conditions the reader could not find word for word are not counted.
What a council refuses for, and the conditions it attaches, depend on what it was asked to decide as much as on the council. A group with fewer than 30 notices read shows its count and no breakdown. Every council read →
Source Galway County's decision notices, read and counted by PPI; no notice text is reproduced hereAlways confirm a decision against the council’s own register.