How would you improve the city?

fricatus

Waterford is still a bit of a rough diamond, and needs a bit of polishing up.

Short of bulldozing the place and starting again, what changes, small or big, would you make to improve the city?

I'll get the ball rolling...

- I'd remove that bloody ugly Guinness brewery. I'd pay Diageo whatever they want so as to put it out in the industrial estate, where it belongs. Some Lonely Planet or Rough Guide a few years ago described Waterford as having a "refinery" on its quays. Yes I know it provides employment, but who knows what sort of intangible damage it does to our image, and the effect that has on employment in the hospitality sector?

- I'd order the ESB to remove those horrible pylons. They look like something out of Siberia when you're coming into the city. (I did say, didn't I, that as ruler, I would have absolute power...)

- I'd have Brendan McCann and his ilk sh-, I mean put in the stocks, sorry, and I'd let the populace throw rotten fruit at them. I'd also turn a blind eye if a "rocker" slipped in there with the fruit. We need that shopping centre built if we're to regenerate the central area, and it's irresponsible of idiots like these to be objecting to it, unless it impinges directly on them (as in, they live next to it).

- I'd get rid of that Enterprise Homecare place and get something more suitable built on it. That site would be perfect for a mid-sized shop like a HMV or some such.

- I'd tell the City Council that they are custodians and curators of something beautiful, not just bureaucrats who can put stuff all over the place at a whim. Examples: didn't someone on here, or Phoenix in the News & Star complain about a parking meter right in front of the city hall, destroying the paving stones? Also, that horrible thing outside Sam McAuley's pharmacy, and the way they painted horrible parking spaces on that lovely granite paving outside the Cathedral. Bureaucrats, with no aesthetic sensibilities whatsoever!

- I'd build a park somewhere around Ardkeen and another one in Ballybeg or Lisduggan, maybe one in Ferrybank too.

- I'd put up signs for local destinations on the ORR. There's not one sign for Lisduggan, Cleaboy, Kilcohan or Ardkeen along its entire length, although every 100m there's one that tells you how to get to Cork :rolleyes:

Any more ideas?

merlante

Don't want to be a downer but we can't even build a shopping centre in the retail core of our city, and now we're going into some kind of a downturn. Maybe there are some deck chairs to rearrange somewhere...

bonjo1983

Simple solution get rid of all the objectors and let the plans be turned into construction ie KRM shopping centre, north quays, waterford stanley (32story building, love it) train station, lisduggan shopping centre, viking corridor.

untill alsot of this actually turns from plans to construction we'll never see a change in our city.

Not The Real Scarecrow

I'd drop the rents on all the shops in the town.The reason Waterford will turn into a ghost town isn't because of shops not doing reasonable business, its cause the rents are so high that any shop needs to be doing crazy business to stay open unless they own the place or have a good lease deal.I'd also get some one to properly plan out the streets abit better.The crazy route system and taxi ranks make the town look messy and cluttered.

SUNGOD

i would enforce the litter laws on anyone littering especially out of car windows. i know its not very profound but its a pet hate of mine and it does ruin the look of the city.
and have some public litter bins around the city that are regularly changed as far as i can see there are very very few.
and i would put a stop to new roads been dug up e.g the new link road from the back of genzyme to gracedieu is open about 5 years and has been fully dug up at least 4 times and numerous small sections closed off, there is constantly temporary traffic lights in use on it because of construction crews having lanes/sections closed off.
im only back from cork yesterday and to walk around the city especially the quays by the city hall would open your eyes to see how a well planned city could look like.

Sully

Agree with Sungod in enforcing the litter laws. Its a disgrace the way people just drop their rubbish not a bother to them. They do it because they get away with it. There is a lack of bins around the City (and county!) and those that are there are often full. It seems to be improving but I think the guy in the cleaning machine and the dude sweeping up the rubbish need to be out a lot more and do the whole city center stretch (thats pedestrianized). When I was up in Dublin they were out all the time on Grafton St. cleaning the place up, and after everyone was gone they soaked the place and cleaned it up very well.

It should be law that each business must keep their exterior looking well and that includes outside their unit (cleaning up rubbish left outside - mainly applys to take aways).

The council need to re-think how the city should develop and try increase more business into the city center and the outskirts. Yes rent seems to have soared (and we have lost business as a result) and those looking to build are constantly being delayed or told no. It cant be the planners fault all the time. Its time we started taking our city seriously and trying to clean up the place and attract more businesses. A TGI Fridays wouldn't go astray in Waterford

Entering Waterford from KK or Wexford is simply awful. The Quays look awful but the buildings on the way in such as the Train Station and Sugar Factory.. knock and improve boys. I do think that accepting applications for the sake of it is silly. The proposed development for the Ard Ri is ludicrous and yes it might take away the derelict look I can still see people looking and asking "How in the name of god did that get permission?" and our answer is "We needed development in our City, so we took what we could get!".

I found this comment on the Munster Express website interesting.

It strikes me, as a blow in to your fair city of Waterford, that you are somewhat resistant to the prospect of bettering your city. Because of this it has clearly languished in the doldrums despite the many years of economic prosperity. Your steets are filthy, estates often poorly maintained and you are home to one of the most idle sitting ministers in Leinster house!!What is required for Waterford is for people to take more pride in their city and more accepting of investment to help boost the image of the city into the 21st century. I fear however Waterford people do not have it in them to care either way and are happier to carry around that big chip on their shoulders for a few generations more until it is bred out of them by new immigrant population.

Source: http://www.munster-express.ie/local-news/fatal-blow-to-e280m-complex/

I did reply to it but it wasn't accepted for some reason. I assume it was to long.

trishw78

I won't move the Guiness Brewery it's a vast improvement on how it used to look.

I would however get rid of Mr. B McCann he's a bloody eyesore

alpha2zulu

I would however get rid of Mr. B McCann he's a bloody eyesore

Its funny that you should mention that, because apparently last month a certain green party local politician narrowly missed a clump on the head as he tried to outfox the new barrier at the WIT front car park on his pedal bike:D

Baby4

This post has been deleted.

jimmytheman

1. City Centre streets should be WASHED every week -
2. O'Connell st should have urban renewal status (no rates)
3. like for Tour De France --- city council gets building in city centre and
quay painted for fixed price (was 300 for small building back then)
4. Fast Track new shopping centre.
5. Fast track Viking & governemnt quarters
6. Fine anyone who puts up posters on disused buildings (legislation already
in place but not used
7 all vacant buildings must be kept clean and painted
8. tree line the quays

thats mine for the moment -

shockwave

I'd remove all carparks from the Quay and also that bloody rusty old crane.It would make a fantastic boulevard or promenade if it was given a chance.

I'd also pedestrianise most of the area around City Square & Patrick St. (except for taxis & buses)

trishw78

I wouldn't get rid of the crane it's part of Waterford's History. Agreed however on the carparks but where would they go instead.

BBM77

It’s simple; I would like all the plans to get into the construction phase. There are too many plans in Waterford and not enough action. Also An Bord Pleanala needs to give decisions in one month, if it cannot do this it should be disbanded. At the moment any benefits to An Bord Pleanala is far outweighed by the amount of time it takes to come to a decision.

Green Hornet

shockwave wrote: »

I'd remove all carparks from the Quay and also that bloody rusty old crane.It would make a fantastic boulevard or promenade if it was given a chance.

Agreed. Just look at Wexford town. Theres a beautiful promenade on the quayfront. I guess the down side is that parking is a disaster there.

BlaasForRafa

Some very good posts on here so far with a lot of good ideas. Theres so much that needs improving though and there just dosen't seem to be much of a clue about urban planning in the city council.

Some things that could be done:

1: Get Mccant out of the town, he's an incredible hindrance to the welfare of the city.
2: Give grants for painting and/or varnishing business and residential premises regularly in the centre of town. I was down in Gladstone street the other day and it was very shabby looking.
3: Reduced rates/rents and taxes for business in the centre of the city. this is especially needed in the O'Connell street area and the quay between Shaws and the Bridge hotel where there are a number of empty premises. That whole area looks very neglected.
4: Streamlined planning procudures. The krm development, the waterford stanley site etc, not only are they good for the city but architecturally the look good too, especially the waterford stanley site, a 32 storey tower would look spectacular. Incidentally they should have a viewing deck at the top of this, would make for some incredible views of the area.
5: More bins and more streetcleaning. And more education in the schools on this as well. Walking down barrack street on a windy day you get crisp and sweet wrappers blowing all around the place and it just looks terrible. Add to that the dogsh*t on the paths as well....we must look like an awful bunch of pigs to foreign visitors.
6: Even if the north quays project dosen't happen they really need to knock down the old flower mills as they look so decrepit and give a terrible first impression of the city.

To address a couple of previous points, I believe that the pylons on mount misery will be taken down and across the river as well and the electric cables will run accross the bottom of the river bed out of sight.

And the idea of a tree lined quay would be great, that would give the quay a lot more colour and dissipate the awful greyness and dullness of the quay area. Once the bypass is in place, hopefully the traffic volumes in the city will go down. perhaps then they could split the traffic lanes on the quay and have trees going down the middle of it too.

fricatus

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

To address a couple of previous points, I believe that the pylons on mount misery will be taken down and across the river as well and the electric cables will run accross the bottom of the river bed out of sight.

If that's the case, then it will be great. Have you any link to this, or any idea when it's planned to be done?

BlaasForRafa

fricatus wrote: »

If that's the case, then it will be great. Have you any link to this, or any idea when it's planned to be done?

I don't have a link sorry, I read it in the news and star in the last few weeks, most likely in the Phoenix column. I'll have a look for it when I get home, hopefully it hasn't gone out with the recycling last night.

ec18

Sully wrote: »

I did reply to it but it wasn't accepted for some reason. I assume it was to long.

I know why:p

Sully

ec18 wrote: »

I know why:p

IM and tell me, I would love to know why... unless you requested it be removed... censorship I tell ya!

nateireann

I am not from here, obviously, and I haven been here very little time but I need to say it:

I´d put bus stops along the route of the kennealy´s bus because I never know where I have to wait for it, and I´d put more services between Ferrybank and the city centre, specially I´d put buses on Sunday and Bank Holidays!

That´s my point of view

and yes, you are allowed to correct my spell, I am here to learn!

Flyer1

I'd up the speed limit of the Ring Road :mad:

Ilovebeard

fricatus wrote: »

If that's the case, then it will be great. Have you any link to this, or any idea when it's planned to be done?

I like the pylons they add a sense of industrial and futuristic might -
aside from that I like to see a lot more High density building in the city centre and less ugly estates sprawling and eating up the countryside,

Having said that , the shopping centre on john street area is a bad idea unless
It combines it with office and residential space which I don't think it does.

BlaasForRafa

Ilovebeard wrote: »

I like the pylons they add a sense of industrial and futuristic might -
aside from that I like to see a lot more High density building in the city centre and less ugly estates sprawling and eating up the countryside,

Having said that , the shopping centre on john street area is a bad idea unless
It combines it with office and residential space which I don't think it does.

Totally agree with you on the ugly estates, there dosen't seem to be any attept to create streetscapes or a community feeling. In a lot of estates the roads meander aimlessly with the main intention it seems on maximising profit for the builder. Perhaps a return to the grid pattern like the Top of the Town area between Green Street going all the way out to Keanes Road in new estates would be justified?

Also there seems to be little thought as to provision for schools, shops, amenities, open areas and public transport...these seem almost like afterthoughts. Public transport especially is woefully inadequate in the city.

As to the Shopping Centre, there is a residential aspect to it which if I recall correctly will run along the Stephen street side which will finally create a proper street if you know what I mean. For so long theres been the De la Salle centre running along half of it then this huge ugly concrete wall with nothing but overgrown weeds behind it.

It should bring some more life to that part of town. It would be nice if the apartment buildings had some variation rather like the apartements on the left hand side of Alexander Street which has several changes of elevation and paint colour which is pleasing to the eye...well my eyes anyway.

fricatus

Ilovebeard wrote: »

I like the pylons they add a sense of industrial and futuristic might -

Maybe we should build a few tractor factories too, with big Russian writing on the side. A few massive Stalinist tower blocks too and Waterford will look just as mighty as Volgograd!

trishw78 wrote: »

I won't move the Guiness Brewery it's a vast improvement on how it used to look.

Not having a go at you directly, but your post points up one of the problems we have. We're too used to the place sometimes to have an objective opinion. Because we see the "Quay River" the whole time, we don't look at its potential to be the most stunning waterfront in the country for example.

And while I agree that the present brewery is an improvement on what was there before, it's still ugly and an unacceptably dominant feature of our city's main entrance. People arriving into Waterford for the first time don't know (and care even less) what it looked like 10 years ago. All they see is the here and now, and if we still have something in our city centre that Lonely Planet or whoever could mistake for a "refinery", then that's unacceptable from an aesthetic standpoint.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and I'm afraid ours is very bad.

Bards

The ESB HV cables that are presently running from Gracedieu to Mt Misery will be run in ducting within the New Suir Cable-Stayed Bridge currently under construction as part of the City Bypass

fricatus

Bards wrote: »

The ESB HV cables that are presently running from Gracedieu to Mt Misery will be run in ducting within the New Suir Cable-Stayed Bridge currently under construction as part of the City Bypass

YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!! One of my main bugbears, gone!

CantGetNoSleep

Being realistic, in a capitalist society it isn't possible to demand landowners to reduce rents on their premises, so we have to look at other ways of redeveloping the city.

Things like this 32 storey tower sound great, but what worries me is will they still look so wonderful in 30 or 40 years? Take the railway station for example. When that was built it was seen as ultra modern architecture but now it is a complete eyesore. A building of such scale as 32 storeys would have to be around for much longer than 30 years to be economically viable. Can we be sure that it won't be a Ballymunesque blot on the horizon in 30 years? Proper local government needs to ensure that this can't be allowed to happen. If any areas are redeveloped, we need to ensure that they continue to prosper into the future. There is no simple answer on how this can be achieved.

But some of the plans do look great, and I think we're on the right track. Of course if we could throw one or two tree hugging blow ins from the top of our proposed 32 storey tower we'd move a lot faster. Redeveloping the north quays should be a priority, and a recreational area in part of that development would be wonderful.

I think something else we should look at is transport. I've been in European cities only slightly bigger than Waterford where light rail services exist. What we really need is a service where a large majority of people can genuinely leave the car at home without waiting in the rain for delayed buses only to be stuck in traffic for just as long as if they had driven in the first place. It was mentioned extending the Kilmeadan railway as far as the new Waterford Stanley development. I don't think this will happen, it is more than likely some of these utopian thoughts put forward by a developer used to gain support for a development, but a commuter service like this could be exactly what we need. If this was successful similar services could operate to cover other areas like the Dunmore Road, Industrial Estate/Ballybeg/WIT (or University of the South East) area.


The University issue is out of our hands. I can see it being the major election issue in 4 years time, but I feel the utter lack of competence of some of our national level politicians will see yet more failed promises (unless maybe a certain chap keeps his promise of challenging for the leadership of Fine Gael). If University status is secured, it seems to me that any further development will be at Carriganore. The proposed sports facilities should be of international standard, and will be of great benefit. It's a pity it doesn't seem it will be ready in time for 2012. While the format seems to be very similar to UL, which has proven to be successful, why not look at a city centre University? There are numerous areas of the city in need of complete redevelopment. A university would ensure lasting prosperity in an area of the city. This is seen in many European Universities, where the idea of one central campus as is the case in many Irish colleges is not preferred. Instead different faculties and departments set up in their own centres throughout a city. This would need additional funding and an awful lot of planning. If I was in charge I would ensure this was interwoven with my plans for alternative forms of transport, as they would be interdependant on each other. A university campus in the city centre would cause traffic problems if not served adequately by public transport, but at the same time it would ensure that a light rail service could be used by enough people to make it viable. Similarly, accomodation for students would need to be looked at. It is obvious that problems exist in Lismore Park / Templars Hall areas between residents and students. But if certain apartment blocks were designed for students these could be avoided, and at the same time ensuring apartments don't remain empty / become delapidated.

What would people think of a university with several newly constructed smaller campuses to add to the existing or already proposed facilities? Say one in the O'Connell street area, another on the North Quays, anyone think of any other suitable sites? I know this forum has its student haters but such a venture would bring life to any area of the city and ensure it stays there.

It is obvious that we have suffered as a result of bad planning and under development. It is hard to believe that a perfect railway between Waterford and Tramore was just taken away. With any proposed redevelopments and new developments we have to consider their effect not just in the next 5/10 years but what they will be like in 30/40/50 years too.

mealone42

alpha2zulu wrote: »

Its funny that you should mention that, because apparently last month a certain green party local politician narrowly missed a clump on the head as he tried to outfox the new barrier at the WIT front car park on his pedal bike:D

I would sack that stupid barrier for stupidity and get a barrier with double blades fitted.:D

Traumadoc

on the dual carriage way there is a wall made from an old buildig with the doors and windows blocked in, this needs to be removed

stick-dan

BINS BINS BINS!!!! The town is crying out from them, As a student in the college, and a resident of the county i lived in riverwalk and on my pedestrian journey to the college not once do you encounter a bin. Same can be said for the College-Manor route, Its a sham. Useless planning. With a town that has such a masssive influx of students every year and these two routes are arguably two of the busiest student routes in the college you would expect to see even one bin, but alas none!

I would also place another round about at the cork roak around the waterford crystal area, it needs something badly.

Sully

They have started putting pins down around Waterford but I dont know if its on the route your talking about. They are outside the college and bus stop outside SuperQuin