Plans to make Shannon a tourist attraction unveiled

lockman

Just spotted this story on thejournal.ie. What do people make of it? Some interesting comments, digs and the usual etc below the story on the journal site

http://www.thejournal.ie/shannon-plan-tourism-709974-Dec2012/
Plans to make Shannon a tourist attraction unveiled

A SIX-YEAR plan for Shannon has been unveiled by Clare County Council today, and includes measures aimed at increasing the town’s tourism potential.

The Shannon town and environs local area plan is the first stand-alone town plan for the area, and was launched at Shannon International Airport. It aims to guide the future growth and development of the area over six years.

Among the objectives are a “strong and vibrant town centre”, maximising the potential from Shannon’s location on the Estuary, increasing its tourism potential, and establishing Shannon as a low carbon town.

It also looks at trying to increase the current population of 9,673 to 11,972, by providing sufficient zoned land.

Blueprint

Town Mayor Michael Fleming described the Plan as a “unique blueprint” for the future economic and social development of the town and surrounding community. Clare Mayor Pat Daly acknowledged members of the local community who had contributed to the formulation of the plan during public consultation.

Gordon Daly, senior planner at Clare County Council, said that for the first time since the town was established during the 1960s, clear objectives to establish Shannon as a tourism destination in its own right have been set out. The plan includes the development of an aviation museum at Shannon Airport, as well as an improved aircraft viewing point.

"The aim is to build on existing facilities such as Atlantic Air Venture and Ballycasey Craft and Design Centre. The plan also identifies a site at Illaunagowan point on the Shannon estuary close to the centre of the town for a potential tourist/interpretative development associated with the Shannon Estuary."

The plan also aspires to Shannon becoming a low carbon town and has zoned a site for enterprise in Stonehall to have a particular focus on renewable energy. It will also focus on “Green Infrastructure”, which comprises the network of open spaces, recreation areas, wildlife corridors and water bodies that intersperse the town and surrounding areas.

The plan includes a cycling strategy and proposals for enhancing walks, including along the Shannon Estuary.

A 2,000-acre landbank adjacent to the airport has been marked for zoning for aviation sector use, as part of the council’s vision for the development and expansion of Shannon Airport.

Last week, the Government announced it has decided to grant Shannon Airport full independence from Dublin Airport Authority on December 31 2012 and merge it with a restructured Shannon Development to form a new, publicly-owned, commercial entity in 2013.

The Shannon Town & Environs Local Area Plan is available to download from the Council’s website.

CptSternn

If they really want to improve Shannon they need to connect it to the railway.

Mr. G

That's what they should have done instead of the barely ever used new galway stops.

Johnboy1951

and establishing Shannon as a low carbon town.

..... they are going to close the airport? :eek:

Run_to_da_hills

CptSternn wrote: »

If they really want to improve Shannon they need to connect it to the railway.

And let another 8 people join the train. :pac:

MarkR

If you get commuter trains coming into a town, it will increase the catchment area for companies to recruit employees.

Shapey Fiend

Trains and train lines cost a fortune to maintain. They'd be better off just sticking a few more buses on you'd get there as quickly.

Shannon isn't a very appealing place to visit and I can't see that changing very rapidly. Can't see how you'd make it a tourist destination short of putting in a casino. At least a bit of development would make it a more appealing place for people living there.

periodictable

"The plan includes the development of an aviation museum at Shannon Airport, as well as an improved aircraft viewing point."

About the only sensible thing Clare Co Co has ever come up with in relation to Shannon. They had years to push for a major motorway west and east-this only got done a couple of years back.
Gordon Daly has some vision, but please no more input from the bright sparks of Clare County Council.
They have had over 70 years for constructive input, and today we have an airport on its last legs. No input from junior-x graduates, part time farmers, publicans or car salesmen. Give O' Leary a bite at the cherry. IF nothing works, offer it to NATO.

rainbowdash

MarkR wrote: »

If you get commuter trains coming into a town, it will increase the catchment area for companies to recruit employees.

So how is Gort doing now that it has a commuter train stop on the main street?

el dude

Finally getting that cinema then.

phill106

rainbowdash wrote: »

So how is Gort doing now that it has a commuter train stop on the main street?

Gort doesn't have an international airport or large industrial estates.

CptSternn

phill106 wrote: »

Gort doesn't have an international airport or large industrial estates.

I was just about to say that

Seriously, a large chunk of people who live in Ennis work in Shannon. Element Six, Genworth, Shannon Aerospace, Mentor, even the airport itself just to name a few of the major employers in Shannon.

They travel by car pool, bus, or drive on their own. A rail line to Shannon would be used by people who work in Shannon just as much as those who work in Limerick, and that's before you get into tourists who fly into Shannon.

In fact, it would actually add an advantage to tourists who use Shannon instead of Dublin (and the others) since Dublin's airport isn't connected to a rail line either. People with large families, small children, disabilities, and others use rail over taxis or rental cars due to the restrictions.

A rail line to Shannon would be very popular and profitable. It's probably why the DAA refused to entertain the idea for so long, seeings how like many of their other policies in regards to Shannon they tended to try and siphon off business and push it towards Dublin at the expense of Shannon.

rainbowdash

CptSternn wrote: »

A rail line to Shannon would be very popular and profitable.

There are no profitable rail lines anywhere in Ireland, what makes you think this one would be profitable?

Factor in the capital investment of hundreds of millions in your workings for good measure.

Nobody would use it either. The bus from limerick and Ennis is pretty quick and frequent but most people still take the car.

rainbowdash

phill106 wrote: »

Gort doesn't have an international airport or large industrial estates.

MarkR said "a town" rather than Shannon. Gort has some industry but I don't think too many have switched to the train since it arrived.

Limerick and Galway have large industrial bases, far greater than Shannon, but only a small minority travel to work by train.

Clareman

rainbowdash wrote: »

There are no profitable rail lines anywhere in Ireland, what makes you think this one would be profitable?

Factor in the capital investment of hundreds of millions in your workings for good measure.

Nobody would use it either. The bus from limerick and Ennis is pretty quick and frequent but most people still take the car.

That's a bit like saying there are no profitable roads either, it's not always about making profit it's about public transport, the more people you get off the road and into public transport the more Green the country is, personally I would get the train to Shannon if I could.

It's important to remember as well that less than 50 years ago there was a full narrow gauge railway around Clare from Limerick, if it was possible in the past it's surely possible now

CptSternn

It does make you wonder if a railroad would help in other ways. I mean, there is not one airport in Ireland that is linked to a railway. This means all goods which currently come into this country must be loaded onto trucks and sent out.

If they had a railway line that connected to the airport it could mean lower costs for shipping for companies across Ireland which would be good for everyone and could mean more economic prosperity for Shannon and the surrounding region. Whenever you can eliminate something like an entire leg of a journey from a journey when you are shipping something, you can save a bundle. Airlines make a majority of the money they take in not from passengers, but the cargo underneath the aircraft. A railway line connected to an airport can have a similar effect, and being the ONLY airport in the country to have this facility would be a boon.

Johnboy1951

rainbowdash wrote: »

There are no profitable rail lines anywhere in Ireland, what makes you think this one would be profitable?

Factor in the capital investment of hundreds of millions in your workings for good measure.

Nobody would use it either. The bus from limerick and Ennis is pretty quick and frequent but most people still take the car.

Yeah, they closed the profitable ones back in the 60s!

Jim Martin

rainbowdash wrote: »

MarkR said "a town" rather than Shannon. Gort has some industry but I don't think too many have switched to the train since it arrived.

Limerick and Galway have large industrial bases, far greater than Shannon, but only a small minority travel to work by train.

That's because the trains are too slow & the fares too high to be able to compete with road transport!

rainbowdash

CptSternn wrote: »

It does make you wonder if a railroad would help in other ways. I mean, there is not one airport in Ireland that is linked to a railway. This means all goods which currently come into this country must be loaded onto trucks and sent out.

If they had a railway line that connected to the airport it could mean lower costs for shipping for companies across Ireland which would be good for everyone and could mean more economic prosperity for Shannon and the surrounding region. Whenever you can eliminate something like an entire leg of a journey from a journey when you are shipping something, you can save a bundle. Airlines make a majority of the money they take in not from passengers, but the cargo underneath the aircraft. A railway line connected to an airport can have a similar effect, and being the ONLY airport in the country to have this facility would be a boon.

Not much sense being spoken there. For starters the vast vast majority of freight arriving into this country arrives by container via the sea into the ports. Theres not even the remotest chance of DHL and TNT needing trains to move their parcels, which usually have 24 hr delivery timescales.


Are you proposing jumbo jets full of containers fly from China to Shannon:rolleyes:

Of course Kerry airport has a railway station, its also in the heart of a tourist region but don't let the facts get in the way of a good story!

Nevermind_

CptSternn wrote: »

Airlines make a majority of the money they take in not from passengers, but the cargo underneath the aircraft.

Actually no they don't. Cargo in a passenger Airline usually only makes up 5 - 10% of revenue at best.
Ryanair for example do not even carry cargo as it would slow down their turnaround times significantly.
Cargo also greatly increases the fuel burn so really it depends on the airline and the route whether it is profitable or not.

Clareman

Most companies much prefer to ship via sea as it's so much cheaper, I don't know if you saw in the news last week the biggest freight ship was visiting Southampton with stuff to see for Christmas, it was cheaper to send it from China to the UK and back empty that using air freight.

MarkR

rainbowdash wrote: »

MarkR said "a town" rather than Shannon. Gort has some industry but I don't think too many have switched to the train since it arrived.

Limerick and Galway have large industrial bases, far greater than Shannon, but only a small minority travel to work by train.

Well we were talking about Shannon, I didn't think we needed to be picky.

I don't know gort very well, bar driving through it, but I didn't see much in the way of industrial estates.

The train station in limerick isn't near any industrial areas (but there are nice chips nearby!), so point taken, there is the volume of people in Limerick, but it seems rail doesn't suit them. Presumably the times are not suitable, it costs too much, or considered awkward to make onward connections....

A monorail, now that's an idea...

pappyodaniel

"I hear those things are awfully loud"

CptSternn

It glides as softly as a cloud!

Clareman

It's more a Shelbyville thing anyway.

Anyway, considering the road from Shannon to Limerick isn't a motorway because (amongst other reasons) the secondary road isn't up to scratch I don't think the infrastructure will be put into place to build a railway.

periodictable

Clareman wrote: »

It's more a Shelbyville thing anyway.

Anyway, considering the road from Shannon to Limerick isn't a motorway because (amongst other reasons) the secondary road isn't up to scratch I don't think the infrastructure will be put into place to build a railway.

Large towers down the central part and on top a monorail. That's how Giuliani cut thru 40 years of obstruction and obfuscation to connect JFK with the subway system