Waterford North Quays

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118771781#Comment_118771781

she maybe a nice woman, but shes clearly not the right person for her role....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118772084#Comment_118772084

She is a party first woman this is the problem. Waterford should come first! for example the boundary extension saga she was against it. FF didn't want to upset anyone in Kilkenny, so she went with the party line!

snotboogie

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/new-developer-found-for-stalled-500m-waterford-north-quays-project-41725535.html

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119167340#Comment_119167340

just spotted this, its great to see the whole idea hasnt died, the whole north and south quays have incredible potential

Gardner

there isn't a hope in hell any developer in their right mind would go near the north quays in the present climate unless they are been heavily subsidized by the state which in turn leads to a poor practice going forward on a local/national level when offering out public tenders.

Short and sweet view should be taken with all of this, abandon the north quays development and the new river crossing and divert all public money in regards to putting the south quays under public ownership again and develop the entire south quays.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169619#Comment_119169619

i suspect ppp's could well be the only way forward, markets are too volatile at the moment, developers need some sort of state supports, in order to get the job done, but i do agree with the south quays, the car parks have to go...

BBM77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169619#Comment_119169619

First of all, why abandon the new river crossing, moving the train station to a better location and other infrastructure works? Your plan is to leave the north quays as is. Ingenious plan 🙄 Even if the north quays does not happen for some time getting the infrastructure works done will make things easier in the future.

Secondly, developers are interested.

Agree the south quays need to change, the surface parking is a particular bug bearer of mine. But this abandon the north quays thing that is being spouted by some quarters at the moment is not an option either. It is BS in my opinion.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119172051#Comment_119172051

Once the bridge is done it opens up the whole site with a quick access direct into the city centre in minutes, this is very attractive from a developer's perspective. Train station move is just as important. We cant accept dereliction in our city centre anymore. Carparks for sure need to go!

JourneyMan8

they should never "shift focus" to the city centre if it's not done in a while as that councillor said in that article. Reading the plans for the North Quays is super exciting and inspiring for once, it would be the making of Waterford. Get that done and everything else all over the city will start to fall into place.

don't even get me started on the south quays, the depression always returns when i drive back to waterford and the first thing i see is car parks.

Asdfgh2020

The view of the retailers and hoteliers that line the quay would be very different. They regard having close by Parking as the ‘life blood 🩸’ of their operations. If all the parking (not sure exactly how many spaces there are but there must be at least 500) was removed over night there Would probably be cries of ‘council again decimates local businesses’ and makes it more difficult for the public to access shops, hotels, restaurants etc……similar to the perceived ‘mess’ that was made of the quay by reducing it to one lane. I’d be all for removing as much parking from quays as is practically possible but there would no doubt be a negative ‘kick back’ from some

hardybuck

Perhaps it's time for the Council to pause and think outside the box for a minute. Is lumping apartments and offices into the North Quays really the best route forward? Fact of the matter is that this is probably going to be an expensive site to develop, hence the need for significant co-investment from the State to make the project viable.

You also have the genuine risk of sucking footfall out of the existing city centre over to the North Quays. The previous developer seemed to have a significant interest in retail - and that could have really impacted existing businesses in what is already quite a disjointed city centre in Waterford. That could be resolved by making the project primarily about residential and office space however.

If there was an opportunity to pause and reflect, I'd encourage the policymakers to think creatively about things which could go into the site which other cities don't have - particularly the other regional cities. Is there something you could put there which would boost Waterford?

Dublin City Council got slated for a proposal to put a white water rafting facility into their quays near the IFSC. It was slated because people didn't think a Council ought to be spending €25m on a leisure facility in the midst of a housing crisis, but the proposal had some merit when you looked at it objectively.

Copenhagen built the Amager Bakke which is not only one of the cleanest waste to energy facilities in the world, but it also doubles up as an unbelievable ski slope. That's an example of what's possible when creative thinking and joined up policy making can be facilitated.

There is no shortage of parking in Waterford lets be honest, we have City Square, Railway Square, Bolton St, Gasworks, the closed Newgate multi storey. Problem is people want to park outside the shop. I think everyone accepts now the carparks on the Quays have to go. North Quays form a huge part in Waterford becoming an actual riverside city again.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119172809#Comment_119172809

Nail on the head there regards the problem I think. People are too lazy to walk from Bolton Street or Gasworks into town and want to park right outside the shop. Remove the car parking on the quay and leave the spaces on the road outside the GPO/Ulster Bank/Fieldmaster as blue badge, age friendly, and set down spots.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119172789#Comment_119172789

this is a great post, i do believe both the north and south quays need to be redeveloped, we need to move on from our past and present use of these spaces, both have incredible potential, but we must involve as many stakeholders as possible to make it a true success. pre existing local businesses must be involved in the whole process, to make sure any new developments dont become destructive for these businesses, we have to get over this whole hyper competitive nature of modern business, whereby only the bigger truly succeed, while smaller businesses end up completely destroyed, its always important to remember, most are employed by sme's!

this was my great fear with the falcon approach, you could see it had the whole monopoly approach written all over it, it could have potentially done great damage to smaller local businesses, this whole rising tide sh1te is simply just that!

we truly need to be extremely careful what we do here, its well known that such developments cause 'negatives' to local property markets, we cant keep doing this, we cant keep continually screwing over younger generations in regards this critical need, i.e. security of accommodation, and yes, i am calling this a 'negative', because thats what it is, i.e. continually causing a rise in property prices is causing mayhem for us!

its critical that we implement viable counteractive measures alongside these developments, as increasing property prices are probably inevitable, but we cant keep playing this free for all game in regards property, it ll ultimately cause the long term failure of all, this wont be easy though, but we have to try something....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119845797#Comment_119845797

Extract from Michael Walsh's Management Report for Thursday's Plenery Meeting. After months of silence Michael has finally decided to write something other than "The council is hoping to progress a proposal to completion in the coming months" about the North Quays in his management report.

Sounds like positive news and I'd be very interested to see what plans this joint venture has. Hopefully it's a development along the lines of the original plans. I am a little uneasy however that the council are selling the land to this JV before anything has even been announced on it. The last thing we need is this proposal to fall apart and then yet another strategic site in Waterford City is in the hands of a private developer who'll sit on it until it appreciates in value, and they can sell it on.

Would it not make sense for Waterford Council to become a part of the joint venture along with ISIF and the private developer thus ensuring some sort of input into the general direction of the development? Similar to the Abbey Quarter development in Kilkenny which is a JV between Kilkenny Council and ISIF, although I know that is a far smaller scale than the North Quays.

BBM77

My biggest fear is that it will be used for social housing. Can just see it now, FFG pushing government funding for social housing on the site for the “benefit of Waterford”. We have seen what is happening with SETU Waterford “expanding footprint” into the old crystal site. Just going to be student accommodation. Michael Walsh and the council need to stick hard to their guns and keep at least the section directly in front of the south quays for commercial and offices.

hardybuck

I'd be more concerned about the Council trying to play a role in the development of this site, outside of providing critical infrastructure.

They have no experience or expertise in this sort of work. They're restricted by all sorts of rules and restrictions that don't apply to a private developer.

Better to sell the thing and reinvest the money in something else.

azimuth17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119847047#Comment_119847047

This has been the bugbear from the start. People with no commercial expertise. Something akin to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority should have been established for the SDZ

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119847370#Comment_119847370

The council is full of overpaid incompetent plonkers who like yo whittle away government money on projects that the private sector wouldn’t touch……

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119847844#Comment_119847844

This is the only chance to get it right! The train station relocation is crucial. A new riverside hotel is also needed there,along with some restaurants, a bit of retail and so on. Make a riverside boardwalk, it needs to stand out though. Residential will definitely be a huge part of it. It's a brown field site that should definitely be developed with high density.

JohnC.

They should be doing things the private sector wouldn't do. That's kind of the point. If government money was only used for things which can make private style profits, the country would be in a terrible mess. What would roads be like if they only exist for profit? Are you prepared to pay a toll on every road? How many bus routes if they only exist for profit?

People need to get over the idea that public services have to make a profit. They don't.

the land should never be sold, theres clear evidence across the country, that by doing so, increases the likelihood of it being used for pure speculative purposes, and if you re wondering why your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews property prospects are in the sh1tter, look no further!

Gardner

see our old buddy Mr. Cass is still on twitter peddling false promises.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119849205#Comment_119849205

I don't know him and have never met him but whenever I see him on Twitter he always strikes me as someone who's slightly lost the plot. His tweets are manic to say the least.

Additional €60m for Waterford North Quays Project (irishexaminer.com)

As a Waterford person, experience has thought me to ask..... what's the catch? This looks like good news.

BBM77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119852197#Comment_119852197

Know how you feel. The words Waterford and government support are words that do not often come together. Even if the train station was relocated and the new bridge better integrating Ferrybank with the rest of the city was done it would be a huge step forward. Here’s hoping.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119852218#Comment_119852218

Exactly even the infrastructure alone for the NQ would be brilliant. I live in Ferrybank and the new bridge would be transformational for me, I'd cycle over to town for work instead of drive. The dual carriageway and the roundabout at the train station is just too dangerous for that at the moment.

I will be eagerly awaiting news from today's cabinet.

south

It has been approved