Limerick improvement projects

phog

I know this is an annual thing but it's great to see the council out putting up hanging baskets and floral boxes around the town and bridges. They add so much to the city. Fabulous to see.

Reputable Rog

phog wrote: »

I know this is an annual thing but it's great to see the council out putting up hanging baskets and floral boxes around the town and bridges. They add so much to the city. Fabulous to see.

Indeed it is. Although a massive sports fans, I would to see the various sporting flags taken down, they look tacky.

phog

Reputable Rog wrote: »

Indeed it is. Although a massive sports fans, I would to see the various sporting flags taken down, they look tacky.

I like the flags on the bridges but I think they're left up too long.

dave 27

Any news on the new tower for bishops quay? A decision was to be made yesterday?

zulutango

phog wrote: »

I know this is an annual thing but it's great to see the council out putting up hanging baskets and floral boxes around the town and bridges. They add so much to the city. Fabulous to see.

I love flowers and I love architecture. Sometimes the two don't go together, and I think the bridges are a case of that, particularly Sarsfield Bridge. The bridge is beautiful and is modelled on the famous Pont de Neuilly in Paris (since demolished). Putting those hanging baskets along it is akin to putting lipstick on the Mona Lisa.

keane2097

'Status: Case is due to be decided by 20-07-2017'

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/247888.htm

Not sure if the above is accurate

Vanquished

keane2097 wrote: »

'Status: Case is due to be decided by 20-07-2017'

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/247888.htm

Not sure if the above is accurate

It's been pushed out by 2 months. What a shambles!

keane2097

Vanquished wrote: »

It's been pushed out by 2 months. What a shambles!

Disappointing alright.

What is the story here, are ABP badly understaffed or what? It seems to be an eternal bottleneck to developments all over the place.

zulutango

keane2097 wrote: »

Disappointing alright.

What is the story here, are ABP badly understaffed or what? It seems to be an eternal bottleneck to developments all over the place.

Maybe. I can't imagine the grounds for objection to Bishop's Quay are particularly strong.

Parchment

phog wrote: »

I like the flags on the bridges but I think they're left up too long.

The council must have a the biggest flags budget going. They literally have a flag for EVERYTHING.

Vanquished

keane2097 wrote: »

Disappointing alright.

What is the story here, are ABP badly understaffed or what? It seems to be an eternal bottleneck to developments all over the place.

It was a chronic problem before the crash. I'd imagine they lost more staff during the recession and now that activity has increased again they're strugglind with the case load. It's still unacceptable though. The planning system is dysfunctional enough as it is without creating further frustrations! Important projects like this need to be dealt with far more effectively.

source

Looks like the temporary lights at the hanging gardens site have been moved and made permanent. They're now directly outside the door of the Garda station and on a purpose built crossing.

Also a zebra crossing has appeared outside The Glen Tavern on Glentworth Street.

phog

Parchment wrote: »

The council must have a the biggest flags budget going. They literally have a flag for EVERYTHING.

Would these not be paid for by the sponsors?

Tefral

source wrote: »

Looks like the temporary lights at the hanging gardens site have been moved and made permanent. They're now directly outside the door of the Garda station and on a purpose built crossing.

Also a zebra crossing has appeared outside The Glen Tavern on Glentworth Street.

They will be removed at the end of the job.

zulutango

source wrote: »

Looks like the temporary lights at the hanging gardens site have been moved and made permanent. They're now directly outside the door of the Garda station and on a purpose built crossing.

Also a zebra crossing has appeared outside The Glen Tavern on Glentworth Street.

Fecking pedestrian crossings!! They'll be putting them on the junctions all over the city before we know it. How are cars going to get around?

source

Tefral wrote: »

They will be removed at the end of the job.

You sure? They look pretty permanent to me. Footpaths extended out into the road and Garda parking moved across the road outside the youth service centre.

Seems like an awful lot of effort for a temporary change when the original method was working fine.

Brennans Row

keane2097 wrote: »

'Status: Case is due to be decided by 20-07-2017'

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/247888.htm

Not sure if the above is accurate

• Irish Georgian Society (Appellant) (Invalid)

• Development Applicaton Unit (Invited) (Active)
• An Taisce (Invited) (Active)
• The Heritage Council (Invited) (Active)
• Failte Ireland (Invited) (Active)
• The Arts Council (Invited) (Active)

Did the Irish Georgian Society screw up their planning appeal?

Who are the Development Applicaton Unit?

Are invitations sent to be party to a planning appeal or is it just jargon-speak for something else?

moleyv

Brennans Row wrote:

Irish Georgian Society (Appellant) (Invalid) Development Applicaton Unit (Invited) (Active) An Taisce (Invited) (Active) The Heritage Council (Invited) (Active) Failte Ireland (Invited) (Active) The Arts Council (Invited) (Active) Did the Irish Georgian Society screw up their planning appeal?

Yes, appeal must have been invalid. Schoolboy error.

Brennans Row wrote:

Are invitations sent to be party to a planning appeal or is it just jargon-speak for something else?

Invitations sent to statutory consultees like they would be when an application lodged with a planning authority.

Brennans Row wrote:

Who are the Development Applicaton Unit?

DAU - for the government department. Three elements to the DAU - NPWS (ecology), archaeology/recorded monuments and conservation/protected structures/landscape (heritage council)


In general, ABP have a guideline of 18 weeks to make a decision. Recently larger applications seem to be pushed out a month or two. They could have requested more information or a response to an observation or the response to the appeals from any of those parties.

They can make a decision before that date.

Tefral

Tefral wrote: »

They will be removed at the end of the job.

Yep. I'm working on this project as a contracts manager.

The plan is they are temporary and to be removed at the end of the project. You never know what will happen when it's finished early next year though.

pigtown

Limerick Museum is reopening tomorrow in the former friary on Henry Street. It's phase one, with further display areas to come. The former Franciscan church next door is to become home to the Fidget Feet aerial dance company when funding comes through.
I'd love if the large permanent collection of Limerick City Art Gallery was housed in this building too, if there's space, and let the existing gallery be dedicated to modern art.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/video/home/252369/watch-a-new-portal-to-9-500-years-of-local-history-in-limerick.html

zulutango

Delighted the Museum has finally opened, and it's great that Fidget Feet are in there too. I think it's a great location but the way Henry Street is currently configured (i.e. as a three lane thoroughfare carrying large volumes of traffic), will stifle its potential as a visitor attraction. Thankfully when the Northern Distributor Road is built we'll be able to turn the street outside into a lovely plaza.

DylanGLC

I have never been to Limerick City so I can only comment so much, but I drove around it the other day on Google Street View and I must admit, I think it has huge potential. One thing it has going for it is that it has very long and very wide streets. The buildings which line these streets seem to be pretty tall too. My main problem with it is that, although it has a big city feel, it feels like the empty/almost run down (but not that extreme) part of a big city. A lot of places looked empty and I couldn't really find anything that looked like a centre, other than the taller buildings by the water (I could be completely wrong so correct me if so). I think that it has a much more US city vibe than Dublin or Cork do due to the streets, however Dublin and Cork just seem a lot more alive, and the fact the centre of the city (O' Connell Street and Patrick's Street) are so obviously the centre of the city for retail, with then the Docklands to the side of the both of them (plus the South Mall in Cork) for business - they look a lot more attractive I think for investment and living.

Of course those pictures were from 2014 so it could be different now, but I really hope all these plans for Limerick City help. Realistically it can't compete with Dublin, and I don't even think it could with Cork, but it doesn't have to. It can be its own city too. I also drove around Waterford (which just looked like a big town) and Galway (also looked like a big town but more like a city due to the centre being more obvious) and Limerick definitely has a lot more potential then them. Hoping for the best for Limerick

zulutango

Limerick could get left behind by both Galway and Cork if it doesn't get its act together.

http://connachttribune.ie/skyscraper-tower-new-eyre-square-east-quarter-080/

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

Limerick could get left behind by both Galway and Cork if it doesn't get its act together.

http://connachttribune.ie/skyscraper-tower-new-eyre-square-east-quarter-080/

We already have a developer planning a 15 story building in the city. The proposed tower in Galway, just like the one in Limerick will be objected to by local NIMBYs and end up before ABP. There is already a large volume of office space planned for the Opera center and we have the Gardens building under construction. I'm not sure how Limerick is going to lag behind Galway.

Also there no point comparing Limerick to Cork. Limerick is 5 times smaller than Cork and will always lag behind.

phog

zulutango wrote: »

Thankfully when the Northern Distributor Road is built we'll be able to turn the street outside into a lovely plaza.

:rolleyes:

zulutango

Limerick will lag behind Galway if Galway makes better decisions for its future than Limerick does. That's not to say there are not good things happening in Limerick, but there are plenty of poor decisions being made too that will hold us back.

As for your point on Cork being bigger, over time places change. Limerick was, once upon a time, much bigger than Cork, for example. It was the trade with the US post 1776 which changed that.

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

Limerick will lag behind Galway if Galway makes better decisions for its future than Limerick does. That's not to say there are not good things happening in Limerick, but there are plenty of poor decisions being made too that will hold us back.

As for your point on Cork being bigger, over time places change. Limerick was, once upon a time, much bigger than Cork, for example. It was the trade with the US post 1776 which changed that.

Galway is a basket case with public transport/traffic issues that make Limerick look like a paradise. And the only projects I've seen mentioned in Galway are all private developer led. Just because there are mistakes being made in Limerick doesn't make Galway automatically better.

zulutango

I'm not saying Galway is better, but it has the potential all the same, especially so given it's equidistant from Dublin. A few key projects and things could really kick off there. Thankfully (for Limerick) Galway makes its fair share of **** ups too.

Vanquished

It’s a valid point though to be fair. We’re fantastic at talking and eulogising  in Limerick but we seriously need to work on project delivery. We’ve been hearing ad-nauseum for years now about these incredible plans that will transform the city. Further little tidbits are released every so often then to try and sustain public interest. That’s all great but there has to come a time where you have to push on and actually build stuff. Especially while conditions are favourable. Who knows when the next downturn will hit! I’m not referring to the Bishop’s Quay office and apartment development. That has been horribly frustrated by an inefficient planning system. But more so the Council lead projects. The “opera centre” saga has been a complete debacle. It’s been 6 years in Council ownership and we haven’t even seen detailed plans or designs yet! Yes I believe a planning application is expected soon. But when exactly? And when will work actually get underway? I’m so sick of looking at that vast terrace of vacant buildings at one of the primary access points to the city centre!


Then there’s the “Arthur’s Quay Masterplan”. Where does this stand? Another prime opportunity to rejuvenate the city centre and provide much needed retail accommodation and public space. But again there appears to be little urgency to progress the project. What’s happing with the Cleeves site? Look at O’Connell Street then. It’s a year and a half since the latest attempt at remodeling the street was announced. Yet once again we haven’t even been provided with detailed proposals. The Council is faffing around, seemingly incapable of making a call on what form the new streetscape should take. Where also are the proposals to improve the other city centre streets like Catherine Street, Roches Street, Cecil Street, Patrick Street, Rutland Street etc etc? Upgrading these should be a priority as it would dramatically enhance the appearance of the city centre. But again ambition is lacking it seems!

And for the record the Cork metropolitan area isn’t 5 times larger than Limerick. It’s somewhere between 2.5 to 3 times bigger.

Strettie11

zulutango wrote: »

Limerick will lag behind Galway if Galway makes better decisions for its future than Limerick does. That's not to say there are not good things happening in Limerick, but there are plenty of poor decisions being made too that will hold us back.

As for your point on Cork being bigger, over time places change. Limerick was, once upon a time, much bigger than Cork, for example. It was the trade with the US post 1776 which changed that.

As someone with personal experience of living in Galway it is an example of all the issues you mention around city planning. If you think the LNDr is a mess look at Galways ring road project.
They have planted some of their biggest employers into the same corner of the city resulting in traffic chaos. I have friends who regularly take 45 mins to get out of the business park they work in.

You would be amazed at the number of people in south galway who regularly shop in Limerick rather than chance going into Galway city

The only thing we lag behind Galway in is their ability to constantly organise great festivals throughout the year