New Garda Headquarters building to be built

antoobrien

It wasn't in the text of yesterdays speech, but apparent;y the site that the OPW bought of GMIT a few years ago is finally going to be developed into a City & Western Region Garda HQ.

Construction due to start new year and take about two years.

Might take a few off the dole queues (in more than one way;))

http://www.galwaynews.ie/26821-new-garda-divisional-headquarters-galway

Galway is set to benefit from a new Garda Divisional Headquarters.

The move is part of a government investment in Garda and courts capital projects with headquarters also announced for Dublin South Central and Wexford.

The new facility for which a site has been procured will also serve as the Garda Regional Headquarters for the Garda Western Region.

The project is expected to commence next year [2013] and construction will continue into 2014 and 2015.

nuac

Fair enough - Mill Street may be congested.

However I was amused by the fact that the West Galway / Connemara HQ was moved years ago to Salthill.

Surely that HQ should be in Oughterard or Clifden.

I recall when nearly all local Gardai lived in the areas they policed, thus acquiring the invaluable local knowledge which is the basis of good policing. Now many commute to their areas from nearby urban centres

Stevolende

Have been wondering what the story was with that space since i have to pass it in the bus going into town all the time.
Does seem a long way out of town to be the local copshop. I'm taking it that it is replacing Mill St which will be closed? Rather than augmenting a conveniently placed city centre one?
Going to be really inconvenient for a lot of people living in town if so.
Also that road into town can be abolutely chocka during rush hours so reaction time might be slowed. though I guess cop cars will still be patrolling in town.

antoobrien

Stevolende wrote: »

Have been wondering what the story was with that space since i have to pass it in the bus going into town all the time.
Does seem a long way out of town to be the local copshop. I'm taking it that it is replacing Mill St which will be closed? Rather than augmenting a conveniently placed city centre one?
Going to be really inconvenient for a lot of people living in town if so.
Also that road into town can be abolutely chocka during rush hours so reaction time might be slowed. though I guess cop cars will still be patrolling in town.

Mill St is too small for it's current role, let alone a bigger one. I imagine that they'll have to keep it open but there's no details in the article.

sentient_6

Question.....whats wrong with the giant newish station only 5.5km further out the road in oranmore?

Sponge Bob

sentient_6 wrote: »

Question.....whats wrong with the giant newish station only 5.5km further out the road in oranmore?

Thats only fit for a Superintendent but the new edifice is for an Assistant Commissioner no less.

irishgeo

where about is this going?

antoobrien

irishgeo wrote: »

where about is this going?

Opposite GMIT beside the pitches

Iwannahurl

I have been led to believe (no hard evidence provided) that Salthill station is to close in October. Allegedly, anyone that does not retire to protect pension entitlements will be working out of Mill Street.

I'll believe it when I see it, but who knows, maybe my informant has been well briefed.

Let's hope they provide sufficient car-parking for the new divisional HQ. I'd hate to see both AGS members and general public adorning the footpath with their motors, as is common elsewhere.

Mrs OBumble

Do they already have planning for using the site?

Interested in seeing the traffic management approach, it's a pretty buy spot, with a narrow enough Dublin Rd outside it.

antoobrien

JustMary wrote: »

Interested in seeing the traffic management approach, it's a pretty buy spot, with a narrow enough Dublin Rd outside it.

Don't have a link to hand but GCC have confirmed that they're planning on removing the RAB.

Just in case anybody is unclear about where the site is question is:

antoobrien

JustMary wrote: »

Do they already have planning for using the site?

From what I can see on the planning tool, there has been no PP application submitted.

what_traffic

antoobrien wrote: »

Don't have a link to hand but GCC have confirmed that they're planning on removing the RAB.

True - there was an article in one of the local papers about this.

antoobrien

Article in today's tribune

There have been a few questions asked, so I've hightlighed relevant portions of the text.

The long-delayed €15 million new Garda Regional and Divisional Headquarters in Galway will be built as part of the €190 million justice envelope in the Government’s stimulus plan announced on Tuesday.

The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has confirmed that construction on the proposed 8,000 square metre facility on the Dublin Road, opposite Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, will commence in 2013. It is expected to be completed by 2015.

The project, first mooted several years ago and progressed under the watch of the then Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, stalled in the past years due to the economic crisis but was resurrected this week as a result of the Government’s €2.25 billion investment in public infrastructure programmes.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has prepared contract documents for the facility, which went on public display in the summer of 2010.

The plans at the time showed that as well as a 4,000sqm basement, the building will house prisoner cells, a firing range, offices, conference facilities and a vehicle testing area. The HQ will be accessed from Murrough Avenue and will have parking for 218 cars. The project was given a €15 million price tag at the time.

The need for a new facility was identified years ago due to the space issues of the ageing Galway Garda Station – it is understood that the current station in the city centre will be retained as a Garda Station.

fergiesfolly

Murrough Ave is going to be one congested little street. Local traffic, school traffic, ratrun and now this. Going to be fun living there!

Iwannahurl

antoobrien wrote: »

Article in today's tribune

There have been a few questions asked, so I've hightlighed relevant portions of the text.

Firing range: that's impressive.

The ERU are currently housed in a converted shed in Salthill, AFAIK.

nuac wrote: »

Fair enough - Mill Street may be congested.

However I was amused by the fact that the West Galway / Connemara HQ was moved years ago to Salthill.

Surely that HQ should be in Oughterard or Clifden.

I recall when nearly all local Gardai lived in the areas they policed, thus acquiring the invaluable local knowledge which is the basis of good policing. Now many commute to their areas from nearby urban centres

Retention of the Mill Street station, along with the new station in Renmore, might add some substance to the theory that Salthill is to be closed (though October 2012 sounds unlikely in this context).

Is it likely that there would be three stations so close together in the city? I doubt it.

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Retention of the Mill Street station, along with the new station in Renmore, might add some substance to the theory that Salthill is to be closed (though October 2012 sounds unlikely in this context).

Is it likely that there would be three stations so close together in the city? I doubt it.

What you want two Garda stations on the west of the corrib - talk about unbalanced planning;)

Iwannahurl

antoobrien wrote: »

What you want two Garda stations on the west of the corrib - talk about unbalanced planning;)

Ya wha?

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Ya wha?

Can you really justify two Garda stations in the city west of the Corrib when, according to the last census, there are only 35 more people living west of the corrib within the city than the east?

Planning report card must not base decisions on old data and plan services disproportionately.

Iwannahurl

I have no idea how AGS intends to justify any of their decisions.

There is more to the Galway Division west of the Corrib than the city itself.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79787693&postcount=2

el_gaucho

does anyone know if the plans are still on display anywhere? I can't find them online

fishy fishy

hilarious - by the time it's built in two years time, we won't have enough gardai employed to man it.

cart before ass as usual.

el_gaucho

antoobrien wrote: »

From what I can see on the planning tool, there has been no PP application submitted.

The planning process is different for new Garda Stations, which is probably why it doesn't show up on the City council website.

kraggy

Surely this has been scrapped. They're closing stations all over the country. They're hardly going to build a new one?

antoobrien

kraggy wrote: »

Surely this has been scrapped. They're closing stations all over the country. They're hardly going to build a new one?

Where d'ya think they're going to put all the Gardaí from the ones they close in Galway? Mill st is barely fit for purpose, so they need a new building without transferring more Gardaí there.

kraggy

antoobrien wrote: »

Where d'ya think they're going to put all the Gardaí from the ones they close in Galway? Mill st is barely fit for purpose, so they need a new building without transferring more Gardaí there.

The number of stations closing in the whole of County Galway is 10. Considering some of these are only open for 2 or 3 hours a day the number of gardai in question is only a handful.

Also, they will be likely posted to a bigger station near the closing one. E.g. the Tynagh station has closed so the garda there will probably be stationed in Gort or somewhere from now on.

They're also cutting the number of existing gardai. There's a plan to cut the number by paying gardai 30,000 to take a career break for 3 years.

antoobrien

kraggy wrote: »

The number of stations closing in the whole of County Galway is 10. Considering some of these are only open for 2 or 3 hours a day the number of gardai in question is only a handful.

Also, they will be likely posted to a bigger station near the closing one. E.g. the Tynagh station has closed so the garda there will probably be stationed in Gort or somewhere from now on.

They're also cutting the number of existing gardai. There's a plan to cut the number by paying gardai 30,000 to take a career break for 3 years.

None of that changes the fact that the minister has decided that Mill St is not capable of supporting the Galway division (or whatever the title is) in the future.

Cost savings are not gathered from cutting capital projects (unless one is very short sighted), the "savings" gained from putting off investment often causes more monetary cost in the long run than investing early.

charlie_says

Does anyone remember this for a few months ago? Oh the irony.

The Sindo wrote:

Thieves strip lead from garda headquarter site

LEAD has been stripped from the roof of a building on a site earmarked for a new garda headquarters, writes Caroline Crawford.

Thieves in Galway took the lead from the premises, which is currently under the control of the Office of Public Works.

The unoccupied building is on the Dublin road, across from the GMIT campus.

The theft was first noticed on Wednesday but it is not known when it occurred.

Gardai in Galway said yesterday they had not been alerted to the theft, but would investigate the matter.

Work is due to start next year on the €15m divisional and regional headquarters at Murrough in Renmore, on the east of the city.

Local Fine Gael politician Padraig Conneely said the incident showed how brazen thieves had become, adding that such thefts were increasingly common.

"There seems to be a high level of demand for lead. A building like this is a soft touch because it is vacant and easily accessed," he said.

"If I had been passing and saw people up on the roof of this building I would have passed no remark," he said. "I would have assumed that it was just someone carrying out repair work."

A spokesperson for the OPW did not answer queries on the building yesterday.

Source

D Trent

A lot of activity on the site in the last couple of days, slates being removed from the roof, must be intending on knocking current building to ground. Does anyone know if they are pressing ahead with the new western HQ plans? I for one have not heard anything about it recently.

Dan_Solo

antoobrien wrote: »

Cost savings are not gathered from cutting capital projects

So how are costs cut then?

Stevolende

Yeah, noticed as I went by GMIT on the bus that there was finally work going on there. Thought about taking a photo but neededa bit more warning. May take one tomorrow if I'm thinking about it.