Good news for Bray??

tomflynn

Some recent good news stories for Bray, which hopefully will see some renewal of the town.

We know Aldi and Lidl have made recent investments in the town. There are also some other good news stories/investment coming up in the next couple of years.

The new street works on Main Street are due to commence shortly.

Colaiste Raithin and St. Philomenas NS will be benefiting from new schools on the old golf club lands (opening 2016).

Flood works, which are progressing well, will ultimately bring about amenity improvements around Bray bridge and along the river close to the Main Street/Castle Street. Hopefully plans for widening of Bray Bridge with a pedestrian cantilever structures outside the existing bridge also come to fruition next year. Finally, plans for a new rail/bus/taxi interchange at Bray station should improve the ambiance of the area around the station next year (hoping they proceed).

Finally, potentially some good news for Bray retailers. The large extension to Carrickmines Retail Park has just been rejected by An Bord Pleanala. This would have provided for a massive shopping centre (50,000 sq m [Dundrum is 80,000 sq m]) and a leisureplex. Again, hopefully this will be some encouragement for something to ultimately get off the ground at the Florentine (if the Council acquire full control of the entire site from the receiver) and/or Golf Club Lands (apparently NAMA may be funding the access road to the school site...can anybody confirm this?) which should also open up the area.

bido

Seems everything is going to happen next year, what is wrong with this year or the last ten years.:rolleyes:

murpho999

bido wrote: »

Seems everything is going to happen next year, what is wrong with this year or the last ten years.:rolleyes:

Because you can't plan for the past.

Really your comment is very negative.

Wicklowandy

While negative, it speaks nothing but the truth.

Lived in Bray for many years and was there yesterday for a couple of hours.

Its suffered in the recession (and more tellingly before it) but it's on a grimness level with Wicklow or Arklow now.

I like to hear some good news for Bray, but it's fair to say that it's been a town on the slide for decades.

The best thing for Bray and plenty of towns like it would be to make commercial rates payable on buildings that landlords strategically chose not to let. Too much ownership is concentrated (probably countrywide) and the small businesses that the economy needs to recover will forever be stifled by this.

2x4

Often wondered why landlords have empty commercial buildings around the town. You would think they would prefer to have tenants paying some rent rather than have empty buildings yielding no rent.

B0jangles

tomflynn wrote: »

... Finally, plans for a new rail/bus/taxi interchange at Bray station should improve the ambiance of the area around the station next year (hoping they proceed)...

Hiya, is there any word if rebuilding the footbridge at the railway gates is part of the planned improvements at the station? I think most Bray residents would agree that is the most urgent thing to be addressed.

CelticCub

tomflynn wrote: »

Some recent good news stories for Bray, which hopefully will see some renewal of the town.

We know Aldi and Lidl have made recent investments in the town. There are also some other good news stories/investment coming up in the next couple of years.

The new street works on Main Street are due to commence shortly.

Colaiste Raithin and St. Philomenas NS will be benefiting from new schools on the old golf club lands (opening 2016).

Flood works, which are progressing well, will ultimately bring about amenity improvements around Bray bridge and along the river close to the Main Street/Castle Street. Hopefully plans for widening of Bray Bridge with a pedestrian cantilever structures outside the existing bridge also come to fruition next year. Finally, plans for a new rail/bus/taxi interchange at Bray station should improve the ambiance of the area around the station next year (hoping they proceed).

Finally, potentially some good news for Bray retailers. The large extension to Carrickmines Retail Park has just been rejected by An Bord Pleanala. This would have provided for a massive shopping centre (50,000 sq m [Dundrum is 80,000 sq m]) and a leisureplex. Again, hopefully this will be some encouragement for something to ultimately get off the ground at the Florentine (if the Council acquire full control of the entire site from the receiver) and/or Golf Club Lands (apparently NAMA may be funding the access road to the school site...can anybody confirm this?) which should also open up the area.

Carrickmines will go ahead eventually - it has been zoned by the Council as a District Shopping Centre, is supported by Nama and has a anchor tenant pre funding the development. They will need to alter the plans to get around the points it was rejected on but dont kid yourself into thinking this wont proceed.

Wicklowandy

Bray main street is pedestrian unfriendly arterial road.

The quinsborough road, boulevard, and Florence road still have some of the beautiful things that made Bray an elegant destination in the past.

I hope Bray does get town centre shopping, but I hope it doesn't lose some of the beautiful period details that are left (I'm sure many people here have checked out the photos of Bray Did you know on Facebook) in any redevelopment that does happen.

And I think any retail development on the golf club lands will just confirm the status of the town centre as a series of trunk roads.