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

Blandpebbles

Funny, was there on Monday night and it looks like great progress is being made. New walls and railings, landscaped areas and the remaining bits being filled in..

Jimjay

Blandpebbles wrote: »

Funny, was there on Monday night and it looks like great progress is being made. New walls and railings, landscaped areas and the remaining bits being filled in..

Yes it looks to be taking shape. There are openings in the walls with steps down in to the harbour area, these openings look like they have temporary fencing on which i presume will come down when the landscaping is done. Looking very tidy at the mo, much better.

RosieJoe

Update on the harbour from today's Wicklow News here

Plans to begin development of a much-needed section of the €300m Greystones Harbour project may get the go-ahead in September, WicklowNews.net has learned.

The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), who have taken over the loans connected to the harbour, has said it is currently assessing plans by developer’s Sispar’s to continue with a limited development on the site of the controversial project.

The area of the proposed works include the public walkway and shop units as well as amenities for sea users.

There is no guarantee that NAMA will approve the business plan, which all developers must submit to the toxic bank in order to continue works, but it’s likely that commercial opportunities and the public value of the building will swing assessors.

Stephen Donnelly, the county’s Independent TD, welcomed NAMA’s engagement on the issue and said it is a step in the right direction.

“The current proposal from Sispar is a welcome staet, as it removes some of the hoardings, develops the primary care centre and opens up limited public space…this would be of far greater value to the harbour users, to the public and to the business community,” he said.

The toxic bank is considering the proposals and will announce a decision in September.

Recently Sispar, which is, along with Wicklow County Council, behind the project, opened a slip for anglers and other water users.

It is expected that further construction, including the proposed medical centre and office space, could be finished in September 2012 pending NAMA approval.

However, this remains unclear due to the fact the construction industry is still in a trough.

There remains discontent in the north Wicklow town over aspects of the project, while politicians have welcomed new developments.

pixbyjohn

Boat Club Pens by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

pixbyjohn

Greystones Harbour 26th. August 2011 by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Fiachra2

RosieJoe wrote: »

Update on the harbour from today's Wicklow News here

About 90% of that is out of date/incorrect. Dont they read the local media?

pixbyjohn

DSC_8615 by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

pixbyjohn

DSC_8622 by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Langerland

Is that a car park?

pixbyjohn

Langerland wrote: »

Is that a car park?

There is space allocated for car parking. The green fencing is where the boat club pens are.

DSC_8623 by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

F3

RosieJoe wrote: »

Update on the harbour from today's Wicklow News here

Why is everyone still under the impression that NAMA is Greytstones Knight in shining armour!!!! For God's sake get into reality! Sispar went into a Casino and put €70million on RED and it came up BLACK. You lose. Now Get out! WCC are worse, they are giving the latitude to Sispar to stay in the casino??? I'd like to know why? why? why? Sispar has failed so WCC must now throw them off the contract and let the community take over. Come on, the Govermment has agreed to insure the infrastructure!!!! Why are the community buildings and public areas not complete? It looks like the current 'effort' being carried out by Sispar at the harbour is being done without any care, I have never seen such appalling workmanship! Do they think that Sispar & WCC see this effort as giving them the green light to build the medical centre??? They haven't even got planning approval yet for it! Why do you think they are spending money carrying out an EIS now?? not for the 34 houses in phase 3 <snip> read the ABP decision carefully, they need it for the medical centre,<snip> what ever it is they well have to fund it themselves, NAMA is only reviewing whether they will continue to fund the Gamblers addiction for the whole project at the same rate AIB did. Anyone want to hazzard a guess on that decision? Come on <snip> , can't you see whats going on, can't you all see whats going on?? same **** different day, the Senior Civil Servants run this country, doesn't matter which party is in government, they are the Irish CIA, and I smell a rat in this saga..............


Potentially libellous allegations and information that cannot be proved have been removed

Tabnabs

F3 wrote: »

WCC must now throw them off the contract and let the community take over.

F3 wrote: »

For God's sake get into reality!

Take you own advice man...

F3

Tabnabs wrote: »

Take you own advice man...

Are you an expert in PPP Contract's? I some how doubt it. Thus unless I hear otherwise with regard to your own expertise, I'll take your last comment as an uninformed layman.

Annasopra

F3/Tabnabs stop getting personal at each other.

pixbyjohn

Big and Little Sugarloaf with Bray Head from Greystones by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Taltos

pixbyjohn - just an idle question - but do you sell prints of any of your shots?
Think the above shot is just amazing - can almost see my home. Wonder what it would look like if we could compare the before and after one atop the other.

pixbyjohn

PM sent to Taltos

pixbyjohn

Culture Night Fireworks, Greystones Harbour by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

pixbyjohn

Culture Night Fireworks at Greystones Harbour by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Jammyc

Fireworks display was really nice tonight. Normally I get bored after a few minutes, but this one was really good.

Pity it was too dark to get a good look around the harbour as we were in it.

woodsy2

Only went onto boards tonight to check whether pixbyjohn had got some photos of the fireworks up yet, some epic ones you've got there!

Jimjay

It was a really good venue for the goings on last night. Still some work to be done but it was nice to get to walk on it.


Greystones Culture Night Fireworks by JayGriffin, on Flickr


Greystones Culture Night. by JayGriffin, on Flickr

The Durutti Column

THE GREYSTONES  ‘Give Us Back Our Harbour’ group has welcomed the significant progress made in recent weeks in negotiations with Sispar.
 
“This success means that the community is very close to a plan for the harbour area which will leave it in a satisfactory condition as a community resource for future years,” said GUBOH spokesman Basil Miller.  
 
“Sispar has delivered significant improvements at the south end of the harbour which will be open to the public within weeks. In addition they have installed much needed boat pens for the marine clubs which will available for next summer.”
 
They also promised further improvements at the Harbour Liaison Committee on 13 September, including public lighting and safety measures.
 
“There is more good news”, said Miller. “They announced that there will be berths available in the marina basin next summer and that the company will make substantial improvements to the final stretch of the Cliff Walk near Greystones.
 
“The stretch from the north beach to the harbour came in for a lot of criticism due to the unsightly fencing and the debris left there when work on the residential element of the development was halted last winter.
 
“Sispar has also agreed to remove the remaining hoarding from the North Beach Road and replace it with fencing in the immediate future,” said Miller. “This is a huge relief for the residents and the community as a whole. In addition, Sispar has agreed that, if the proposed Medical Centre does not go ahead, they will landscape this area and open it to the public.
 
“And the decrepit temporary office opposite the Beach House will be removed and new accommodation for the harbourmaster located elsewhere on the site.”
 
Miller explained that there are still a few unresolved issues which GUBOH and others in the community are working on.
 
“Sispar is of the opinion that they cannot open the North Pier to the public and they have also fenced off some areas of the South Pier which we believe should be open to the public. They have concerns about how to safely maintain these areas and to protect their commercial interests and we will be discussing these concerns with them at the HLC in the coming months to achieve a resolution.

“The reality is that the Medical Centre is highly unlikely to be built and there is no hope of any housing development in the area for a long time to come,” he said. “The solution to the harbour must reflect this reality. Whatever we get now will be what the town will have in place most likely for a very long time.”
 
Miller concluded by thanking the members of Greystones Town Council for their efforts in helping to bring about a resolution. “Since early July a great deal of constructive work was done in the background by councillors and by community groups. I think we are very close to resolving this issue and I hope that in the very near future GUBOH can take down our banners and we can all enjoy our community harbour.
 
“In that regard, the Fire & Light Festival at the harbour on Culture Night, 23 September, gave us a fabulous taste of what is possible, and what it will mean to have our harbour back. The day is not far off.”
 
ENDS
 
For more information contact
Basil Miller
Spokesperson
086 8182082 / 01 4433494
Notes for editors

 
See http://facebook.com/groups/greystones
 

 

pixbyjohn

Thank you for that information.

Annasopra

Mod comment



The press release is fine but in general boards.ie would encourage discussion rather than just posting up press releases. Posting up just links to GUBOH press releases in future might be a better idea

Jimjay

“The reality is that the Medical Centre is highly unlikely to be built and there is no hope of any housing development in the area for a long time to come,” he said. “The solution to the harbour must reflect this reality. Whatever we get now will be what the town will have in place most likely for a very long time.”

What happened with the medical centre.
I thought sispar said if they wouldn't get funding they would use their own money and either way they will start building it before the end of this year?

The Durutti Column

mango salsa wrote: »

Mod comment



The press release is fine but in general boards.ie would encourage discussion rather than just posting up press releases. Posting up just links to GUBOH press releases in future might be a better idea

Take your point, Mango, but this seems to be something of a breakthrough by GUBOH. Anyhow, if Miller is right in his predictions there may be no more missives from GUBOH by 2012.

This forum tends to be a bit sceptical, and I see Miller's tone as a bit Pollyanna-ish. The problems are downplayed, the achievements bigged up. It could be a Derek Mitchell press release except that it does actually admit there are problems and it's properly structured and written well.

GUBOH was suspiciously quiet since early July. The banners have gone from Beach House and Cliff Terrace. Now this sickly optimism?

Has GUBOH been bought off? Sold out?

In actuality, the harbour we now see is an ugly mess. Prison camp fences everywhere, cheap infill as parking (just watch that spread all over after weekend boating traffic) crappy temporary fencing pinned to walls, and that badly made ugly railing along the Cliff Road. Sispar obviously ran a contest among sub-contractors for the ugliest possible materials.

I enjoyed the fireworks show as much as anyone and it is was a wonderful open expanse with a great feeling of spaciousness. BUT the night had this going for it: the ugliness was hidden in the dark. And no cars were allowed.

Next day, reality again -- brutalist, industrial-style design and precious little space to be used for casual recreation. Most of it is car park, so the dictatorship of the car goes on.

The Durutti Column

Jimjay wrote: »

What happened with the medical centre.
I thought sispar said if they wouldn't get funding they would use their own money and either way they will start building it before the end of this year?

It's a dead duck.

No similar med centre anywhere in Ireland is making a profit. What Sispar said in July was just to buy time and keep the TC off their back, they had no intention of building it. Most councillors went along with this, of course, <snip>

The latest is, according to what I heard from one of the lads at the Liaison group meeting, that Sispar said that if they did not start the MC by this December, it would not be built in the forseeable future.

Two other points.

1. Fact -- Sispar does not have planning permission for the Med Centre.
While WCC passed a Part 8 motion to grant, Bord Pleanala made this conditional on an EIS which has not been completed.

2. If Sispar did fund the MC itself, this could trigger action by NAMA to call in the debt of around €40m the company owes. They sent a business plan to NAMA which someone like Judge Kelly would regard as outright fantasy, so if they suddenly came up with 5 or 10 million NAMA might conclude Sispar was jerking their chain and say "pay up, lads, the taxpayer needs that €40m and you obviously don't."

You can forget the Med Centre, the clubhouses, the boardwalk and any housing. Once the work of the next couple of months is done, what you see is what you will have for 15 or 20 years, and now that's me being the optimist!

By the way, what about the view from Trafalgar Road? Those rusty spikes sticking up in front of Bray Head? They are pilings for the famous boardwalk -- are they going to be left there for the duration of the crash?

I'm bloody glad I don't live on Cliff Terrace and have to look out my windows at those every day...

Buzkashi

GUBOH is just cosying up to the Labour mayor, Tom Fortune, and the FG/Lab coalition. Sellouts like all the rest. I heard a rumour some of them want to stand in local election in 2014, which would explain a lot.

Durutti, we need more scepticism, even cynicism, not less. Miller's statements is bull****.

Buzkashi

Wow! I did type the actual word 'bullsh1t' but boards has an autocensor. <snip>