[Article] €200m Shopping Centre Revamp Gets Green Light

cranky bollix

they have planning permission! there is no money in this country even with two anchor tenants - I cant see this goin ahead for a long time to come, if ever.they might build 1 or 2 phase's for the anchor tenants and that'll be it.

galwayrush

Excellent news, it will create some badly needed jobs and improve a major existing eyesore.

Amhran Nua

KevR wrote: »

Agree that it would be very difficult to figure out first time and that it is dangerous. I know a few people who have been driving for years but avoid that roundabout because they either can't figure it out or have had bad experiences (very near misses) on it.

I nearly ran into the back of a garda van that was reversing around the roundabout the last day, so its not just general motorists that have problems with it. On the topic of the development, while jobs are always to be welcomed I'd echo those posters looking for longer term development plans for the city - we don't need more international retail franchises in Galway, we need local entrepreneurship encouraged, domestic industry and artisans given more opportunities.

Discodog

Anyone who has been to Oxford will know that Park & Ride can be excellent. Galway needs a P&R carpark in the West as well & there is plenty of spare land for it.

The key is reliability. As you park in Oxford you can see the bus waiting to leave. It does not go until the next bus arrives so you never have more than about 8 minutes to wait. The busses have priority at junctions so the journey is quick. Coming home the busses stop at several points in the city centre close to the shops & again you know that you will not have to wait long.

Park & ride has to be made much cheaper than city parking to make it work.

KevR

The bus lanes which will be on the Seamus Quirke/Bishop O'Donnell Road after it has been upgraded (fingers crossed this summer) would mean that a Park and Ride to the West of the City could have fast and reliable buses going into town.

I think a train station and Park and Ride should be built in Oranmore. People coming into Galway from the East (M6) or South (N18) can park there and get the train into Galway City Centre and there could be buses going from the same P&R to Parkmore, Ballybrit, Ballybane and Liosbaun industrial estates during the week. If the demand was there, they could have buses as well as trains going to the City Centre at peak times. At weekends, when the industrial estates are quiet and town is busy, the buses could be used for additional services into town.

When the Galway-Limerick rail line opens there will be 12 trains each way every day between Athenry and Galway. There is a station planned for Oranmore anyway - they should hurry up and build the thing!! There's no rail P&R planned for Oranmore; an entirely seperate bus P&R has been mooted. I think this would be a massive mistake. The train station at Oranmore is being built anyway so why not have an integrated rail and bus P&R??

brianthebard

KevR wrote: »

It's hard to say. At least there is employment being created in Galway City Centre along with the apartments in town. Back in the boom days there would be big estates going up on the edges of the city (where there is no facilities, jobs or public transport) and loads of one-off houses going up 20+ miles outside the city in County Galway.

I think it's good that the Shopping Centre redevelopment and Ceannt Quarter will increase the population density (through more high rise buildings) in the City Centre where there are facilities, jobs and public transport to the industrial estates on the East Side. It's far more sustainable than what was happening.

I'm sure people who currently own a home might disagree but the more resendtial properties in Galway City Centre and the inner suburbs the better in my opinion because it will keep prices at a much more reasonable level. This will encourage people to live in the city near where they work. During the boom people couldn't afford to live in the city and as a result the countryside in County Galway got destroyed with one-off houses.

There are 345,000 empty properties (170,000 if you don't include holiday homes) in Ireland at the moment. It's safe to say the vast majority of these are ghost estates in counties which never had the population or employment levels to fill those properties. The like of Central Dublin, Galway, Cork and Limerick will never have huge levels of empty properties.

This is for the most part true but the fact is they are planning new housing when there are thousands of properties around the city that are empty or half finished. Its not responsible planning on the part of the County Council for a start and its adding to the attitude of expendable housing. In addition I personally think it would be foolish to believe that Galway, Limerick or even Cork will not or cannot end up with large amounts of empty properties, especially if more are persistently built even now that the bubble has burst.

kraggy

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

€200 million would build most if not all of the bypass, and would provide far more benefits to the city than a pile of teenage clothes shops.

Don't forget about the jobs that will be created as a result ot the shopping centre. Also, though it may be costing 200m, they will be getting this back in the longrun through selling the units/apartments etc and in rental income.

Also, that part of the area badly needs a facelift. It's funny the way one doesn't realise how dated somewhere is because they pass it everday. If you take a look at it with an objective, observant eye, you'll see how disgusting the GSC is.

But I agree, the bypass is badly needed.

unJustMary

cranky bollix wrote: »

they have planning permission! there is no money in this country even with two anchor tenants - I cant see this goin ahead for a long time to come, if ever.they might build 1 or 2 phase's for the anchor tenants and that'll be it.

There's money in some places.

And a recession is a far better time to be building than during a boom: it keeps trades-people available and prices lean.

I do agree that things like this should be planned in stages, and the planning process should take account of the possibility that building will stop after any given stage. (So don't leave all the landscaping 'til Phase 5, for instance).

padraig71

@KevR - great diagram, but in the interests of completeness the middle blue line should continue round where it leads into the left-hand lane on the bridge for traffic that doesn't turn off towards Woodquay.

Kess73

KevR wrote: »

It's hard to say. At least there is employment being created in Galway City Centre along with the apartments in town. Back in the boom days there would be big estates going up on the edges of the city (where there is no facilities, jobs or public transport) and loads of one-off houses going up 20+ miles outside the city in County Galway.

I think it's good that the Shopping Centre redevelopment and Ceannt Quarter will increase the population density (through more high rise buildings) in the City Centre where there are facilities, jobs and public transport to the industrial estates on the East Side. It's far more sustainable than what was happening.

I'm sure people who currently own a home might disagree but the more resendtial properties in Galway City Centre and the inner suburbs the better in my opinion because it will keep prices at a much more reasonable level. This will encourage people to live in the city near where they work. During the boom people couldn't afford to live in the city and as a result the countryside in County Galway got destroyed with one-off houses.

There are 345,000 empty properties (170,000 if you don't include holiday homes) in Ireland at the moment. It's safe to say the vast majority of these are ghost estates in counties which never had the population or employment levels to fill those properties. The like of Central Dublin, Galway, Cork and Limerick will never have huge levels of empty properties.

Unfortunately Limerick does have a high level of empty properties, take your pick from residential, retail, and commercial. As someone who has lived in Glaway and lives in Limerick, I wish that Limerick had city planners/authorities like the Galway ones or like the Cork ones. I know there can be some complaints about your lot, but they do not come close to the jokers we have in Limerick.

KevR

padraig71 wrote: »

@KevR - great diagram, but in the interests of completeness the middle blue line should continue round where it leads into the left-hand lane on the bridge for traffic that doesn't turn off towards Woodquay.

Also, the left lane which goes into the Galway Shopping Centre could continue around and lead into the left-hand lane of the Woodquay exit. Left both of those out so the diagram wouldn't get cluttered.