€2bn plan to develop Galways docklands

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    • #708822
      Maskhadov
      Participant

      aoiseach presented with €2bn Galway dockland plan
      Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent

      A new municipal gallery and cultural centre are key features of a €2 billion development plan for Galway’s docklands which has been presented to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

      The blueprint aims to move the existing tidal port into deepwater and “turn the city’s face to the sea”, according to Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív.

      The Minister is spearheading the initiative with State and business interests being led by John Killeen.

      The proposal, which received an enthusiastic response from the Taoiseach in Galway yesterday, is being marketed as a potential “flagship project” for the west in the new National Development Plan currently under preparation for 2007 to 2013.

      It has been prepared by a special steering group representing Galway Harbour Company, Galway City Council, Ireland-West Tourism, Galway Chamber of Commerce and the Marine Institute.

      Expertise was also drawn from George Washington University and the Dublin Institute of Technology.

      The proposal consists of two phases, involving the initial relocation of the current port area to a deepwater site – suitable for cruise ships – and the subsequent development of a 32-acre “brownfield” site under strategic development zone designation.

      Central to the plan is the release of an estimated eight acres of amenity area in the city centre. A new “landmark waterfront” development involving “cultural attractions”, housing, shopping areas and marine leisure facilities would “allow Galway to fulfil its potential as a maritime city”, the plan says.

      It would strengthen its ability to live up to its “gateway” designation under the national spatial strategy.

      The project would “complement” proposed developments at the adjoining site owned by CIÉ, which is currently under consideration by the transport company.

      It would also help to integrate rail, bus and sea transport. Most of the area would be pedestrianised.

      Mr Ó Cuív said it would also complement the partial opening of the Western Rail Corridor, which would be dominated by commuter traffic.

      In his view, the project would be modelled on Auckland’s waterfront development in New Zealand.

      Proposed marine leisure facilities would be inclusive, involving all types of activity from angling to traditional sailing craft and would in that sense be the “very antithesis” of private marina developments, he added.

      If included in the National Development Plan, the proposal would then require a Government order to designate it as a strategic development zone under the 2000 Planning and Development Act.

      Galway City Council would then be appointed as the relevant development agency.
      http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0803/1154466473286.html
      © The Irish Times

      Picture this . . . a dazzling plan for a €2bn docklands that will rival Sydney Harbour
      http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1664052&issue_id=14442

      A MASSIVE €2bn docklands development – the biggest in the west – is set to transform Galway city.

      The plan for Galway’s marine hinterland – which would be comparable to Sydney Harbour, the Cape Town Waterfront and the Dublin Docklands – was formally presented to the Taoiseach yesterday and is proposed as a major part of the new National Development Plan 2007-2013.

      It was drawn up at the invitation of Galway West Minister Eamon O Cuiv by a high-powered group of civic, business, tourism, harbour and marine executives, backed up by senior academics at George Washington University in Washington DC and the Dublin Institute of Technology.

      The docklands would be “a flagship, landmark project” for the Ireland West region. To be constructed in two phases, the project would entail the relocation of the existing port and the development of a nearby 32-acre brownfield site for amenities and commercial use. Key features would include a municipal gallery, a conference centre and an innovative cultural centre.

      The relocation of the port would give the city new docking facilities and would allow Galway to accommodate the lucrative cruise-liner business. Revenue of €25m a year is forecast from cruise liners alone.

      It is also envisaged that Galway would become a major international hub for sea angling, sailing and related marine activities. Galway already hosts the headquarters of the Marine Institute.

      The development would provide a once-off opportunity to integrate public transport in Galway and it is envisaged that the project would dovetail with the proposed development of the adjoining Coras Iompair Eireann rail and bus terminals. The entire site could be for pedestrians only, in keeping with the pedestrianisation of Galway city centre, according to the plan.

      The authors conclude: “The development will allow Galway to fulfil its potential as a maritime city as it will capitalise on the unique opportunity presented by the ocean coming into the heart of the city.”

      Brian McDonald

      Great news for Galway if it materalises. I just hope they thing BIG

    • #783903
      admin
      Keymaster

      Where is the new port going I’m not sure if a bungalow free 32 acre site exists anywhere close to Galway i.e. this side of Kylemore

    • #783904
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      it is going to go into the docks…
      there is a lot of industrial land there. cie have plans for the area too so hopefully it will compliment each other. i haven’t seen anything from cie on there’s yet but it was supposed to be nearly ready for planning.

    • #783905
      admin
      Keymaster

      It sounds perfect doesn’t it

      The relocation of the port would give the city new docking facilities and would allow Galway to accommodate the lucrative cruise-liner business. Revenue of €25m a year is forecast from cruise liners alone.

      It is also envisaged that Galway would become a major international hub for sea angling, sailing and related marine activities. Galway already hosts the headquarters of the Marine Institute.

      Where is the location for the new port surely it is totally premature to talk about redeveloping the old port until a site has been secured for the new one.

    • #783906
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      From the Irish Times today

      Proposed new port for Galway to cater for liners
      Michelle McDonagh

      The proposed new multimillion euro port for Galway city will aim to attract the lucrative liner business currently centred in Dublin and Cork, as well as becoming a marine hub.

      The relocation of the existing port at Galway docks, a kilometre out to sea, is part of a massive €2 billion plan to transform the area into an Irish version of Sydney Harbour in what would be the biggest tourism development in the country.

      The vision is for a 32-acre Waterfront City, which could attract up to 50 cruise ships a year and generate €25 million for the local economy. The current docks area would be transformed into a pedestrianised hub featuring a cultural centre, retail space, conference centre, residential units, restaurants, bars and cafes, as well as a 200-berth marina. The Galway Harbour Company is currently completing an environmental impact statement on relocating the port and they plan to lodge a planning application for this phase of the project with the city council by the middle of October.

      If this application is granted, the next step will be to apply for a foreshore licence, which will take some time as it involves reclaiming land that is State-owned, according to secretary of the harbour company Tom O’Neill.

      He said the new port would have the facilities to cater for the largest liners afloat which can carry 3,000 passengers.

      “The vessels that are best able to deal with this type of business are the big liners trading in the Mediterranean that visit Dublin and Cork and can carry up to 3,000 passengers. We will be trying to attract these liners to come around the coast to Galway after Cork when we have the facilities to cater for them,” he said.

      If approved, work on the port will start in four or five years and be completed in seven to 10 years.

      © The Irish Times

    • #783907
      admin
      Keymaster

      The figures look poor i.e. a 1.25% annual return for the local economy with no indication of what operating revenues would be and with interest rates at 4-5% for this type of finance it doesn’t look particularly viable.

      Is this another Vega City?

    • #783908
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      @Thomond Park wrote:

      The figures look poor i.e. a 1.25% annual return for the local economy with no indication of what operating revenues would be and with interest rates at 4-5% for this type of finance it doesn’t look particularly viable.

      Is this another Vega City?

      This plan is not going to happen. As far as I can see, there’s one side who want to develop the docks, and another who want to move the docks, they’ll be fighting each other for the next few years to see who has more sway in the FF tent. More than anything, the figures they are throwing around just don’t up, 2 billion to build a cultural centre? Sounds like you’ll make the money back alright!

    • #783909
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      typical and amusing, Although no plans have been submitted yet for any stage of the plan, already, a group of ” concerned people” have organised a group called ” people before profit” to object to it.:confused:

    • #783910
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      My understanding is that the new port will be situated on land reclaimed from the bay. The reclaimed land will adjoin the existing industrial area just south of the railwayline at Lough Atalia. There will also be a spur from the railway to the new port . Once this is complete the existing dock will be redeveloped as a full scale marina.

      Looking at the map that was in the press though, this scheme, if it ever goes ahead will have a huge environmental effect on the inner bay and Corrib estuary already prone to flooding.

      The CIE lands to be redeveloped are the existing rail station and yard at the rear of the GSH, about 11 acres in total I think. Perhaps CIE, The Galway Harbour Company and the local council should get together and draw up a master plan with public consultation and come up with a decent renewal of this part of Galway city centre

    • #783911
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      The €2bn being talked about sounds quite conservative for what is actually being considered. The following is an approximation of a diagram published a while back in the Connaght Tribune, prepared by Tobin Engineers. It shows the massive scale of landfill being planned adjoining a new causeway along which cargo ships will be able to berth and unload and deep water berths 1km out to sea for Cruise Liners to dock.

      The existing docks would be given over to amenity use as a marina whilst land currently occupied by oil depots, stores and other Harbour activities would be freed up for development. This area adjoins another large swathe of land owned by CIE which will also be up for development simultaneously. The potential is there to almost double the size of the city centre core along with the provision of a new bus/rail station in the vicinity of Eyre Square.

      These opportunities are extremely exciting and could, with proper masterplanning and investment, create a whole new cultural,tourism and commercial hub for the city, easing the pressure on the historic core of Shop Street which is currently being overrun with High Street chain stores thus losing it’s unique character.

      However, the proposed new docks is quite a frightening prospect. then new causeway and landfill could potentially block all views of Galway bay from the Spanish Arch / Claddagh areas. The land usage of the reclaimed zone is most likely to be industrial / dockland type, thus meaning the view of the bay would be replaced not by glistening new developments of hotels & cultural facilities as some people seem to think, but by scrap heaps, stacks of shipping containers and industrial warehouses. The area earmarked for the “new cultural quarter / tourism development” is purely the area marked Harbour Company Lands on the diagram.

      Obviously the plans are at a very early stage as blocks on a map but I sincerely hope that the end result is less intrusive on views and of a much more modest scale. I fully realize that land will need to be reclaimed to allow the docks to re-locate but surely there is no reason for Galway to have such an enormous port facility.

      This will be an interesting one to watch as it’s basically a done deal that something along these lines will happen in the near future. The government have their eye on the scheme as the major infrastructural project for the West during the course of the next National Development Plan and are talking in terms of “transforming” Galway into a waterfront city. It’s a noble objective but the diagram as published shows a reality far, far from the dream.

    • #783912
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Thats an obscene amount of reclaimed land IMO. Will totally mess up the balance of, well, everything in the bay.

    • #783913
      admin
      Keymaster

      Has anyone realised that the proposed berths are only a coupole hundred metres from the sewerage treatment that services all of the City and it is further in the direction of the most common prevailing wind.

      ‘Irish Effluent Cruise for the Affluent Retirement Set’

    • #783914
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      I didnt know that the land being reclaimed is for industrial use.. thats going to look terrible. They should relocate th e port outside Galway

    • #783915
      admin
      Keymaster

      Or invest in rail freight to move the containers from Bellview it would be a lot chaeper; this is just a small number of local interests suitings their own positions.

    • #783916
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      a rail link to the proposed development could be used to transport goods to and from a goods depot somewhere inland near a proposed motorway junction.hopefully the plans will be on view before the end of the month,the basic plan i saw dosen’t show the reclaimed land extending as far into the bay,

    • #783917
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      @FIN wrote:

      it is going to go into the docks…
      there is a lot of industrial land there. cie have plans for the area too so hopefully it will compliment each other. i haven’t seen anything from cie on there’s yet but it was supposed to be nearly ready for planning.

      the plan for the C.I.E. lands involves an extention to the railway station and a massive shopping and appartment complex . A great oppoturnity to extend the city centre.Hopefully it will involve something creative, it’s about time we got a few landmark buildings here. Maybe the City Planners will overcome their fear of heights.:eek:

    • #783918
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      @galwayrush wrote:

      a rail link to the proposed development could be used to transport goods to and from a goods depot somewhere inland near a proposed motorway junction.hopefully the plans will be on view before the end of the month,the basic plan i saw dosen’t show the reclaimed land extending as far into the bay,

      Probobly the proposed N6 outer bypass / N18 Dual Carriageway junction? It’ll be yeeeaaaaaarrrrrsss before that is done 🙁

    • #783919
      admin
      Keymaster

      @galwayrush wrote:

      a rail link to the proposed development could be used to transport goods to and from a goods depot somewhere inland near a proposed motorway junction.hopefully the plans will be on view before the end of the month,the basic plan i saw dosen’t show the reclaimed land extending as far into the bay,

      No reclamation could be justified on the basis of existing throughput

    • #783920
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      @Thomond Park wrote:

      No reclamation could be justified on the basis of existing throughput

      it would be impossible to increase throughput with the existing Docks facility.
      in that way, it’s a strange type of plan here in Ireland, we could call it planning aheador Planning for the Future
      Naw, it would never catch on.:rolleyes:

    • #783921
      admin
      Keymaster

      Other than liquid bulk tonnage at Galway is negligable at 147,000 tonnes or about the equivelent of 10 containers per day.

      Expansion you say, how about justification of its current existence beyond pertrollium products the cost of facility replacement for Dublin with an infinately larger throughput has been found to be entirely unviable in every single study undertaken.

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