News and views on Greystones harbour and marina [SEE MODERATOR WARNING POST 1187]

F3

Good Morning all,

I'd like to say its nice to be back on this thread but its not. Not at all. And its not that I don't want to blog with you good people, its not nice having to jump back into the uphill battle of giving Sisk & WCC another kick in the hole to get this fecking harbour moving for the people of Greystones.

So, wake up TC's & TD's, wake up Quirke & Keogh, since we last stopped bugg'n you, you've done nothing, you couldn't even landscape the waste land like you promised [and were paid for by the Tax payer to do so]. Actually, you've done worse than nothing, you've taken €50,000,000.00 out of our pockets and given it to Sisk.

This is what we want now:


1) We want the green fence gone from the south pier replaced with ornate edge protection.

2) We want the compound site designated for the club-house landscaped, and opened up to allow pedestrian access from Cliff Road.

3) We want the last hoarding removed in front

of Joe Sweeneys

4) We want the entire site [THE ENTIRE SITE] landscaped with meandering paths and park benches. and all fencing removed

5) We want full access to the north Pier

6) We want the inner harbour opened to the public and the boardwalk piles cut and made safe.

6) We want proper coastal protection to the north beach cliffs

7) We want ornate bollards protecting the new Greystones Harbour Park

8) We want Full time security and maintenance

9) We want Sisk to pay for it out of the €50million the tax payer has just given them.


And we'd like it now please......

pixbyjohn

Not a photo

The Durutti Column

3) We want the last hoarding removed in front

of Joe Sweeneys

That's an easy one. A direct action squad would have that down in minutes some evening.

pixbyjohn

Not another photo

Cheeky Chops

What's it look like down there now? I haven't been down in months - I avoid the whole area I hate it so much. Sad to say I have discovered some lovely walks in Wicklow because of the carnage.

Fiachra2

Hasnt changed materially in a year. Looks a mess.

Thanks for the photo John. We in GUBOH were discussing a new banner campaign to replace the old one. (There is still one left on the Cinema) We were thinking about a wording and I think we might have just got it!

Langerland

Well unless some drastic action is taken before next Summer, with the local elections in 2014, one can only assume the local councillors are planning to retire.

I applaud the work done by GUBOH but the effort involved for the minutest of progress is akin to trying to move a Blue Whale off a beach. It seems the only way to change things is to vote all the current councillors out in the next election. Pity we have to wait until then.

Could send our local TD's with them for their inaction on this matter despite a clear dissatisfaction from the community.

Alan_P

The Department of Health has decided on a short list of locations for Primary Care Centres :- there are 30 approved, of which they intend to start 20 immediately. This Irish Times story has the list of 30 :-

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0921/1224324231416.html

Greystones isn't on the list. Which makes me wonder why the HSE confirmed to Simon Harris that construction of the PCC would start in September :-

http://www.simonharris.ie/?p=1567


I also note there are 9 days left in September, and no signs of construction starting.

recedite

Alan_P wrote: »

Greystones isn't on the list. Which makes me wonder why the HSE confirmed to Simon Harris that construction of the PCC would start in September :-
http://www.simonharris.ie/?p=1567

If you check the exact wording in the link;

The Department of Health has now been informed by the developers that work on the Primary Care Centre for Greystones will begin in September

You wouldn't want to believe a word of what the developers say (past or present incarnations) Or certain politicians who have been drip fed little nuggets of hope by the developers and their cronies in WCC over the years. The whole public/private partnership deal has collapsed, and the developers are being allowed to call all the shots now. The cost of the harbour so far has been off loaded onto the taxpayer through Nama, and any "for profit" aspects to the overrall scheme will proceed when and if Sisk decide they want to proceed.

The other list of 30 care centres referred to above is a list promised by the Minister for Health which would be publicly funded and built. Whether you believe that promise is a separate matter.

legrand

Primary Care Unit?

How about this sensible idea from our beloved ancestors (oh how I miss those days!). It's perfectly clear to me that we can solve the issue of the harbour development with a specialist zoo (1m 30sec below):p

http://www.dublincoastaldevelopment.com/playvideo.html

Fiachra2

Brilliant!

Fiachra2

GUBOH have written to all Town councillors asking for a comprehensive review of the Harbour suituation at the next town council meeting which is next Tuesday 25 September at 7.30 in the council offices. We believe this discussion is necessary as the developers have failed to carry out the promised landscaping work and continue to deny acess to most of the harbour to both the public and to yachts and fishing boats. Already several of the councillors have responded positively so if you want to hear what they have to say come along next Tuesday.

The Durutti Column

Fiachra2 wrote: »

GUBOH have written to all Town councillors asking for a comprehensive review of the Harbour suituation at the next town council meeting which is next Tuesday 25 September at 7.30 in the council offices. We believe this discussion is necessary as the developers have failed to carry out the promised landscaping work and continue to deny acess to most of the harbour to both the public and to yachts and fishing boats. Already several of the councillors have responded positively so if you want to hear what they have to say come along next Tuesday.

Are you sure it's 7.30 and not 7, F2? If there's no policing committee meet then the TC will start at 7.00.

We got caught by this before. Unfortunately, the town officials are not great at putting the agenda on their website pages— there's no sign of an agenda for tomorrow.

http://www.wicklow.ie/Apps/WicklowBeta/TownCouncils/gtcMinutes12.aspx

And as you can see on the page, they're not great at making minutes available either — you can get access to only half from the six months. Pretty poor.

Fiachra2

You are right it is 7.00. I believe the harbour is item 2 on the agenda so people wont have to wait around for very long.

NB 22 more views and this thread will have reached 150,000 views. Pretty impressive!

The Durutti Column

Fiachra2 wrote: »

You are right it is 7.00. I believe the harbour is item 2 on the agenda so people wont have to wait around for very long.

NB 22 more views and this thread will have reached 150,000 views. Pretty impressive!

It's there... over 150K.

Cookie_Monster

Fiachra2 wrote: »

You are right it is 7.00. I believe the harbour is item 2 on the agenda so people wont have to wait around for very long.

any outcome apart from the usual political guff and avoidance?

Fiachra2

As I understand it the only announcements made were that:
The coastguard station is not happening (there's a surprise)

The medical center is not happening till the spring. (That would be the medical center which is not on the famous HSE priority list of 35 but was absolutly definitely happeing in September 2012 and april 2012 and January 2012 and autumn 2011 etc etc)

While a couple of councillors (Mitchell and Hyden) are of the view that the harbour is just fine and articulated that opinion most councillors we very critical of this information. More details and explanations were sought from the Council.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there but those who were will no doubt correct my information if I am wrong.

Fiachra2

Apparently everything is just fine down there!

Press Release from Mayor Kathleen Kelleher
At our Greystones Town Council meeting on Tuesday,
25 September, 2012, there was very active participation from
all the Town Councillors regarding the harbour development.

Pros and cons on what has been achieved so far, what should
be done in the future, how the harbour is being used now, finance
and the proposed Primary Care Centre all received quite detailed
comment.

I am delighted that it was agreed that all our concerns will be
forwarded to Mr. Sean Quirke, Director of Services for Special
Projects. He will be asked to address these concerns and
he will be invited to our October Greystones Town Council
meeting.

Separately, it was agreed that Greystones Town Council would
write to the Health Service Executive seeking clarification on the
provision of a PCC for our town. Are we on the list? Are we not
on the list? Where is the funding for our PCC?


It is essential that we continue to make progress with our harbour.
To date, it has proved to be an excellent amenity. Our harbour has enhanced
our town. Our harbour can be used by a wide variety of groups. Our harbour
is the first step in re-claiming our maritime heritage.

legrand

Incredible. Other than the Hayden, Kelleher and Mitchell I know of no one (absolutely no one) who has anything positive to say about the harbour. What planet are these guys from I have to wonder.

Our harbour has enhanced our town - that word again.

By the way - have folks seen that personal vendetta someone has with a Delgany based builder where the aggrieved party is sharing his anger with all and sundry vandalising the harbour walls with graffiti?

The Durutti Column

Ah, well, some of us still maintain some tenuous connection with reality, and some of us are just plain bats — or members of Fianna Failure.

In a way it's a good thing that she is Mayor in the runup to the local elections. Her party will "benefit" greatly.

The Durutti Column

legrand wrote: »

By the way - have folks seen that personal vendetta someone has with a Delgany based builder where the aggrieved party is sharing his anger with all and sundry vandalising the harbour walls with graffiti?

A conundrum: as the harbour is itself a piece of vandalism, is it possible to vandalise it?

Fiachra2

I love the bit about "reclaiming our maritime heritage"

We have had a sailing club for going on 50 years now. The activities of that club have not changed a jot with this new harbour. So what reclaiming is going on? As far as us sailors are concerned we hadnt lost anything in teh first place.

Conversely the berth holders, people with boats on the beach and the commercial fishermen were kicked out of the harbour 4 years ago and havent been let back since. How does that consitute "reclaiming our maritime heritage?"

Annasopra

Fiachra2 wrote: »

I love the bit about "reclaiming our maritime heritage"

We have had a sailing club for going on 50 years now. The activities of that club have not changed a jot with this new harbour. So what reclaiming is going on? As far as us sailors are concerned we hadnt lost anything in teh first place.

Conversely the berth holders, people with boats on the beach and the commercial fishermen were kicked out of the harbour 4 years ago and havent been let back since. How does that consitute "reclaiming our maritime heritage?"

I was reading that Maritime heritage thing and struggling to figure out what she was on about. It looked like superfluous words meaninglessly plonked at the end of a sentence.

The Durutti Column

Fiachra2 wrote: »

I love the bit about "reclaiming our maritime heritage"

We have had a sailing club for going on 50 years now. The activities of that club have not changed a jot with this new harbour. So what reclaiming is going on? As far as us sailors are concerned we hadnt lost anything in teh first place.

Conversely the berth holders, people with boats on the beach and the commercial fishermen were kicked out of the harbour 4 years ago and havent been let back since. How does that consitute "reclaiming our maritime heritage?"

mango salsa wrote: »

I was reading that Maritime heritage thing and struggling to figure out what she was on about. It looked like superfluous words meaninglessly plonked at the end of a sentence.

Her technique is a fairly basic version of the common politicians' approach. Some call it meaningless waffle.

It is, in truth, a sort of mental sedative, a supposedly soothing central nervous system depressant aimed at dulling the sensitivity of the observer/listener/reader and preventing them from appreciating the true reality.

Where philosophers such as ourselves try to clarify and elucidate the specifics of a given reality, the Kellehers misuse language in an attempt to confuse and obscure.

In this case, what most now agree is a white elephant horror and a crime-by-developer is represented as a gain for the community — its exact opposite, in fact.

But she needs to practise harder. I would give her only three out of ten for this effort.

loyatemu

Fiachra2 wrote: »

Apparently everything is just fine down there!

Press Release from Mayor Kathleen Kelleher
At our Greystones Town Council meeting on Tuesday,
25 September, 2012, there was very active participation from
all the Town Councillors regarding the harbour development.

Pros and cons on what has been achieved so far, what should
be done in the future, how the harbour is being used now, finance
and the proposed Primary Care Centre all received quite detailed
comment.

I am delighted that it was agreed that all our concerns will be
forwarded to Mr. Sean Quirke, Director of Services for Special
Projects. He will be asked to address these concerns and
he will be invited to our October Greystones Town Council
meeting.

Separately, it was agreed that Greystones Town Council would
write to the Health Service Executive seeking clarification on the
provision of a PCC for our town. Are we on the list? Are we not
on the list? Where is the funding for our PCC?


It is essential that we continue to make progress with our harbour.
To date, it has proved to be an excellent amenity. Our harbour has enhanced
our town. Our harbour can be used by a wide variety of groups. Our harbour
is the first step in re-claiming our maritime heritage.

so they had a bit of a chinwag, and now they're going to send a couple of letters. Greystones TC really is nothing more than a glorified resident's committee (only with added expenses and free trips abroad). I assume it'll be included in Phil Hogan's upcoming bonfire of the councils?

as for this:

The Mayor wrote:

Are we on the list?

the list was in all the papers - Greystones is not on it...

MyPerfectCousin

The Mayor wrote: »

Separately, it was agreed that Greystones Town Council would
write to the Health Service Executive seeking clarification on the
provision of a PCC for our town. Are we on the list? Are we not
on the list? Where is the funding for our PCC?

If there was any doubt in my mind as to the incompetence and disingenuousness of this "council", it is now erased.

Fiachra2

Press release from GUBOH

http://www.greystonesguide.ie/guboh-disappointed-at-lack-of-progress/


The Give Us Back Our Harbour (GUBOH) group has expressed its utter disappointment at the complete lack of any progress at Greystones harbour. Members of the group attended a recent Greystones Town Council meeting on 25 September which was told that the most recent deadline for commencement of the PCC had not been met, that the landscaping at the site promised last April had not been completed and that there was no funding available for the coastguard station.

“Our objective has always been to have the whole area landscaped, have all harbour walls opened to the public, to have all unnecessary fencing removed and to make the harbour and marina basin opened to fishermen and yachts,” said spokesman Fiachra Etchingham.

“We never accepted that the commencement of the PCC was necessary for any of these objectives to be achieved. However last May, based on assurances given to Wicklow County Council and the confidence expressed by public representatives in the assurances, we agreed to bide our time and wait until September. Our patience was not rewarded. Some poor quality material was dumped on the site but apart from that no progress has been made.

“The Town Council was advised last Tuesday that no progress can be expected until spring 2013. Even that information is unreliable as there was no County Council representative at the meeting to report on the development and answer the public representatives’ queries.”

Yet another summer has passed; the community of Greystones faces a derelict wasteland littered with rusty building materials, the public is denied access to the piers, commercial fishermen and boat owners are denied the mooring facilities that they were promised and the business community continues to suffer from the losses that this dereliction causes.

The suggestion that the development might be progressed next spring is yet another empty promise coming on the back of a series of similar broken commitments over the last two years. It is time for the community and its representatives to cease to give any credence to such suggestions (and they are only suggestions) and to press the County Manager to compel the developers to restore the site.

pixbyjohn

Fiachra2 wrote: »

Press release from GUBOH

http://www.greystonesguide.ie/guboh-disappointed-at-lack-of-progress/


The suggestion that the development might be progressed next spring is yet another empty promise coming on the back of a series of similar broken commitments over the last two years. It is time for the community and its representatives to cease to give any credence to such suggestions (and they are only suggestions) and to press the County Manager to compel the developers to restore the site.[/I]

HOW ?

Fiachra2

pixbyjohn wrote: »

HOW ?

Simple enough.

The developers entered into a contract to build a harbour, marina, clubhouses, public square etc etc and to manage the facility for 30 years. In return they were allowed build and sell apartments. The contract will contain a clause that covers the possibility of the developer failing to complete the infrastructure element of the plan. In the event that he fails to do so he will be in breach of the contract which can be terminated and another developer contracted to finish the development.

Obviously it is unlikly that the issue would go that far. The threat of such action should be enough to get the developer to rectify the site and open it. The issue for the community is to get the manager to do this. At present is sole concern seems to be to look after the devloper's interest, odd though that may seem.

Fiachra2

GUBOH contacted all Town Councillors before the last meeting to request that they raise the harbour issue. Below is the reply received from cllr Hayden (Also published in the wicklow times)

Its good to see that we move forward in a spirit of compromise.


To whom it may concern,
I will not be making any representations on behalf of a group that has tried its damnedest to discredit me and undermine my position and that of my electorate at every opportunity. I find it comical to say the least that the signatory of your circular is a calling for ‘completing the Greystones Harbour project’, is this not the same person that, virtually single handedly, delayed this project by instigating scare tactics throughout our community in the planning process? Is it not the same person that lead a group dedicated to causing confusion and spent their time peddling misinformation about the project?
If it were not for the now defunct GPDA protest and objection group the entire community would be enjoying a wonderful, fully finished amenity at Greystones Harbour today.
Yours
Cllr Ciarán Hayden