Galway Docks Development

Robbo

KevR wrote: »

We should adopt the same approach as the Chinese adopted when they were preparing to host the Olympics - that everything will go perfect and nothing/nobody will be allowed to stand in the way of that.

:pac:

Ah jesus, you don't want to go provoking Amnesty and all. Those do-gooders can't even contend with my argument that the barbed wire *protects* candles...

JohnCleary

galvianlord wrote: »

The other issue was with moving the oil facility to a new place down in the harbour business park. all of the players involved are private comapnies and as much as the harbour and council would liek to be able to kick their ass into gear it looks like they can go as fast or as slow as they want. I'm hopeful that it will all get done on time but it doesnt look too good if one domino doesnt go the rest wont either... dont know if alternatives have been sourced for a race village if things dont go to plan, anyone have any idea?

You do realise that it's these private companies that came up with the idea of a stopover in Galway in the first place, right? For example Cold Chon / John Killeen is a major player. So tbh they don't need their arse to be kicked into gear - they're already as in gear as they can be (imho)

Remember that this race village will be pre-fabricated, meaning that it might only be built anything as close to 1/2 weeks before the stopover

As regards to the EPA with having the race village on 'contaminated' soil - your guess is as good as mine

I'm confident that it'll all come together in the coming months, but it's anyone's guess

galvianlord

JohnCleary wrote: »

You do realise that it's these private companies that came up with the idea of a stopover in Galway in the first place, right? For example Cold Chon / John Killeen is a major player. So tbh they don't need their arse to be kicked into gear - they're already as in gear as they can be (imho)

Remember that this race village will be pre-fabricated, meaning that it might only be built anything as close to 1/2 weeks before the stopover

As regards to the EPA with having the race village on 'contaminated' soil - your guess is as good as mine

I'm confident that it'll all come together in the coming months, but it's anyone's guess

Dont know who Cold chon is but I was on about Shell and is it Texaco? They have to move and move quickly or the thing wont get built, theyre the ones that need to get into gear. This is an excerpt from Galway News in Nov:

PLANS to have the oil tanks currently located at Galway Docks moved by the end of this month no longer look likely, as negotiations between the Galway Harbour Company and Topaz have yet to reach a conclusion.

Management at the harbour had initially hoped the oil tanks by the Harbour Hotel would be moved by this month, but they have now conceded this is unlikely to happen.

CEO of the Galway Harbour Company, Eamon Bradshaw told the Galway City Tribune that negotiations were ongoing, but he said harbour management had to accept that Topaz owned the site and as such were entitled to store their tanks there.


The other point is that the tanks need to be taken down. There's ten (?) of them and while i dont have a degree in construction it seems to me that 11 days to get them all down would seem to be very ambitious.... nothing to do with how long it takes to assemble the pre-fabricated village.

Robbo

galvianlord wrote: »

The other point is that the tanks need to be taken down. There's ten (?) of them and while i dont have a degree in construction it seems to me that 11 days to get them all down would seem to be very ambitious.... nothing to do with how long it takes to assemble the pre-fabricated village.

With a little faith and ingenuity you'll find most structures can be easily dismantled...

JohnCleary

Cold Chon (John Kileen) is one of the major backers of the Galway Stopover along with John Conneelly and a few others, that's who I thought you were referring to when you said the "Private companies need to get their arse into gear", not Texaco/Topaz/Shell etc.

Yeah you're right I guess the owners of the tanks could cause an awful lot of sh1t if last minute they didn't agree to have the tanks moved. But I really don't see this being a problem - I mean they've already started laying down the new oil pipes to divert the oil coming off the boats to the location down the end of the Enterprise Park

And i'd say if the owners of the tanks tried to pull a fast one, they wouldn't be long getting slammed with some Health&Safety issue saying that it's illegal/dangerous to have tanks to close to the city - Sure isin't there a H&S issue for *EVERYTHING* these days :pac:

JohnCleary

Robbo wrote: »

With a little faith and ingenuity you'll find most structures can be easily dismantled...

Tell the pikey's the tanks are made of copper - they'll be gone by the morning

galvianlord

faith and ingenuity....i like that, i like that alot. let's hope we dont have to wait for the second coming. its just to me it doesnt seem as cut and dry as we're being told. anyway what are the chance of the boat winning?

JohnCleary

galvianlord wrote: »

faith and ingenuity....i like that, i like that alot. let's hope we dont have to wait for the second coming. its just to me it doesnt seem as cut and dry as we're being told. anyway what are the chance of the boat winning?

Who gives a sh1te tbh. This stopover in Galway to me is about boosting a LOT of money into our local (and national I guess) economy which in our current economic climate can only be a good thing.

It will also bring yet another gathering to Galway which is excellent. I don't care what anyone says the craic is mighty around Galway for the Arts Festival/Races - extra big events can again, only be a good thing I reckon

Sure, it'd be great if the Irish boat actually won, but I don't know what benefit it would be to Galway

citycentre

galvianlord wrote: »

He said once the tanks had been decommissioned it would take 11 days to take them down. Not too sure how long after that for the ground to be cleared etc

I'd love to believe that but really, it just makes this Galway Harbour Comapny representative sound like he's talking out of his hole. Dismantling and clearing this site will take a good few weeks, theres no doubt about it...

JohnCleary

BTH wrote: »

I'd love to believe that but really, it just makes this Galway Harbour Comapny representative sound like he's talking out of his hole. Dismantling and clearing this site will take a good few weeks, theres no doubt about it...

TBH I reckon that the Galway Harbour Company know a lot more about those tanks than you or I so I wouldn't be so quick to judge.

In fairness he said 11 days to TAKE THEM DOWN, not to totally clear the site. I reckon it's perfectly possible if you get enough labour in there. The only thing limiting labour is money available and if it's one thing i'm pretty certain is that Lets Do It Galway are not stuck for a few bob. Granted space will be an issue ie. they'll only be able to fit a certain amount of machinary in there at any one time

foxy_19-89

thoguht shell had nothing to do with the tanks ever sicne they took their logo from the side of one of them?

it'll be interesting to see how they actually disassemble them, even more interesting to see it done in 11 days!

Madame Razz

galvianlord wrote: »

He said once the tanks had been decommissioned it would take 11 days to take them down. Not too sure how long after that for the ground to be cleared etc but it just seemed like a very short period in which to pull them down.

I have actually seen two of these such tanks be dismantled and removed at another harbour down south in under two days.

Granted there were only two of them but they were of similar size to the galway ones, the only difference was that they were not in a city centre location- no doubt this will make the process a bit slower.

So they can remove these structures quite easily and quickly really, plus you have to remember that having been there a while those tanks won't exactly be corrosion free so will come down pretty easily.

I am still dubious about the time frame on all of this though, and from what I'm hearing about the place I don't think I'm the only one!!

For now though, I'm believing that they know what they're at......

For now.....:rolleyes:

galwayrush

galvianlord wrote: »

speaking of which anyone read the latest bitter and bilious letter from An Taisce's Hambleton in last fridays Tribune? it reached an all time low even for him, talk about one bitter blow-in!!!

That is one seriously derranged but dangerous Twat. How could any person have so much time on their hands to complain / write about/ object in such a negative way to almost every building project proposed for Galway.
When i see a letter in a local paper, i look to see who signed it,His name is usually there on a weekly basis and if i'm in a mood to be amused, i'll read it.
He ain't the only one, but possibly the worst.:mad:

galwayguy22

JohnCleary

galwayguy22 wrote: »

KevR

http://www.galwaynews.ie/6155-politicians-may-sacrifice-mug-shots-ocean-race

FOR the first time in history, candidates seeking your vote in the forthcoming European and Local Elections may be banned from erecting posters throughout the city in the runup to polling day – all for the sake of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The frenzy that will surround the elections will coincide with Galway’s hosting of the event from May 23 to June 6, and with all the focus being on the image of the city, the presence of posters is a concern.
Sitting city councillors are currently informally discussing the suggestion they should do their bit to present the city in the best possible light for the 140,000 visitors expected to Galway for the event, by keeping their mugshots off city lamposts.
Councillor Dónal Lyons, who will be an independent candidate for the city elections told the Galway City Tribune the general feeling amongst a number of councillors was that they would be agreeable to the ban once everyone adhered to it.
“We all know how important the area around Salthill and the Docks will be as viewing areas for the Race and while nothing has been agreed as yet, proposals have been thrown around that we might avoid having a plethora of posters around the city, if possible,” he said.
Stating that it would not be...

I hope the posters are banned. Would look bad if the city was covered in them during the Ocean Race. I don't like seeing the posters going up at the best of times, nevermind during such a big tourist event.

JohnCleary

http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/tank-removal-%27not-pivotal%27-to-stopover/

Tank removal 'not pivotal' to stopover
Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Galway Harbourmaster Brian Sheridan has moved to reassure sailing enthusiasts that removal of the Topaz Oil tanks at Galway Docks is not essential for the Galway Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race to go ahead.

While the original plans of the Galway Stopover organising committee had foreseen that the tanks would be moved by Christmas, this has not yet occurred and does not seem immediately likely.

However, according to Captain Sheridan, while the harbour board is "tirelessly" working with port customers in concluding discussions regarding the decommissioning of the oil depot in the city centre, "the decommissioning of the depot is in the best interests of the Volvo Ocean Race but is not pivotal to its success".

The Galway Independent understands that emptying of the tanks would be sufficient to allow the race village to go ahead.

Captain Sheridan said the erection of the race village would "commence as planned in early May on the back of a building media campaign to welcome the world to Galway".

In a rallying cry to supporters, he said that "the city is no stranger to hosting a party," and "with all bodies rowing in the same direction, despite the credit crunch, the carnival will rock on from 23 May for a fortnight of festivities."

Spokesperson for Let's Do It Galway, Fiona Bolger, told the Galway Independent that, while there is little visible evidence to suggest it at this point in time, planning is in the advanced stages for the stopover, with a number of key campaigns due to kick off soon.

"People will begin to see things happening with the beginning of our marketing campaign in February. The festival programme will kick off in March, while the advertising campaign, which we are doing in conjunction with Failte Ireland, will begin in April. At this stage, the marketing is focussed on overseas markets, attracting visitors from the UK, US and EU," she added.

I would agree with this. While some of the village was planned to be where the tanks are, i've noticed that Galway City Recovery (Beside the Harbour Office/RNLI) has been cleared out - there's plenty of space here which I didn't see in th ee original plans for the village

KevR

They're going ripping up the Dock Road today for some sort of drainage works aren't they? Let's hope they properly resurface it when they're done. It's one of the few roads around town that has a good surface because it hasn't been ripped up and badly restored (ie - just fill in the bit they dug up rather than resurfacing the whole thing like they're supposed to) since it was last fully resurfaced.

Think there will be diversions for the whole week.

JohnCleary

KevR wrote: »

They're going ripping up the Dock Road today for some sort of drainage works aren't they? Let's hope they properly resurface it when they're done. It's one of the few roads around town that has a good surface because it hasn't been ripped up and badly restored (ie - just fill in the bit they dug up rather than resurfacing the whole thing like they're supposed to) since it was last fully resurfaced.

Think there will be diversions for the whole week.

Yeah diversions until Feb 6th by the Council. I don't know what the story is with that road - Does it belong to Galway Harbour Company? Because the P&D is controlled by GHC. If it does belong to them (if that's possible) then I reckon they'll demand it's restored to a high standard. But if the council have control, you know it'll just be slapped together again

KevR

Not sure who owns it. Would be a pity if it's not restored properly because it's in perfect condition at the moment.

Sconsey

KevR wrote: »

Think there will be diversions for the whole week.

Anyone know what route the diversion takes? I usually drive home from work that way in the evenings (East -> West).

?Cee?view

KevR wrote: »

Not sure who owns it. Would be a pity if it's not restored properly because it's in perfect condition at the moment.

As far as I remember it is owned by the Harbour Company and they have licensed its use. Can't remember who it's licensed to though...it must be the City Council?

big b

Sconsey wrote: »

Anyone know what route the diversion takes? I usually drive home from work that way in the evenings (East -> West).

you take the right turn at the end of the docks, then a left.

You know., like loads of people do every day to jump the queue a bit!:D

galwaybabe

Someone told me yesterday that we'll have to pay to get on to the docks during the event. Is that true?

galvianlord

Any of the press comments to date seem to have said that the public will be able to gain access to the docks during the stopover. I do think you will have to pay if you wanted to partake of hosptiality during the event. If there is a corporate village it will have to make some money and from what i know there will be different days and different events on throughout the stopover. if you want to access the bars and meals you will have to pay anywhere from 250Euro per group to 2500 grand.

PS it's nearly February and still no move on the tanks....tick tock....

JohnCleary

Screw the bars and meals - I'm bringing a Bottle of Buckie in a Coke bottle, then upto Supermacs for a cheeseburger

RECESSION FOLKS! :pac:

swalsh

They are starting to clear out some of the sh1te thats on the bottom of the docks in the last two days. I wouldn't say it will be too nice the stuff coming out of there.

JohnCleary

swalsh wrote: »

They are starting to clear out some of the sh1te thats on the bottom of the docks in the last two days. I wouldn't say it will be too nice the stuff coming out of there.

They're not dredging it though, are they? (I'm not in Galway atm) - Used to love seeing them suck out all the water, huge open space and a load of sh1te at the bottom with a JCB driving around the place scooping it up

KevR

Have to go into town later in the afternoon. Might swing by to take a look if I get the chance..

swalsh

No, they're not dredging it, just using a big claw type machine to take the stuff out