Waterford North Quays

she maybe a nice woman, but shes clearly not the right person for her role....

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/new-developer-found-for-stalled-500m-waterford-north-quays-project-41725535.html

there isn't a hope in hell any developer in their right mind would go near the north quays in the present climate unless they are been heavily subsidized by the state which in turn leads to a poor practice going forward on a local/national level when offering out public tenders.

Short and sweet view should be taken with all of this, abandon the north quays development and the new river crossing and divert all public money in regards to putting the south quays under public ownership again and develop the entire south quays.

First of all, why abandon the new river crossing, moving the train station to a better location and other infrastructure works? Your plan is to leave the north quays as is. Ingenious plan 🙄 Even if the north quays does not happen for some time getting the infrastructure works done will make things easier in the future.

Secondly, developers are interested.

Agree the south quays need to change, the surface parking is a particular bug bearer of mine. But this abandon the north quays thing that is being spouted by some quarters at the moment is not an option either. It is BS in my opinion.

they should never "shift focus" to the city centre if it's not done in a while as that councillor said in that article. Reading the plans for the North Quays is super exciting and inspiring for once, it would be the making of Waterford. Get that done and everything else all over the city will start to fall into place.

don't even get me started on the south quays, the depression always returns when i drive back to waterford and the first thing i see is car parks.

Perhaps it's time for the Council to pause and think outside the box for a minute. Is lumping apartments and offices into the North Quays really the best route forward? Fact of the matter is that this is probably going to be an expensive site to develop, hence the need for significant co-investment from the State to make the project viable.

You also have the genuine risk of sucking footfall out of the existing city centre over to the North Quays. The previous developer seemed to have a significant interest in retail - and that could have really impacted existing businesses in what is already quite a disjointed city centre in Waterford. That could be resolved by making the project primarily about residential and office space however.

If there was an opportunity to pause and reflect, I'd encourage the policymakers to think creatively about things which could go into the site which other cities don't have - particularly the other regional cities. Is there something you could put there which would boost Waterford?

Dublin City Council got slated for a proposal to put a white water rafting facility into their quays near the IFSC. It was slated because people didn't think a Council ought to be spending €25m on a leisure facility in the midst of a housing crisis, but the proposal had some merit when you looked at it objectively.

Copenhagen built the Amager Bakke which is not only one of the cleanest waste to energy facilities in the world, but it also doubles up as an unbelievable ski slope. That's an example of what's possible when creative thinking and joined up policy making can be facilitated.

Nail on the head there regards the problem I think. People are too lazy to walk from Bolton Street or Gasworks into town and want to park right outside the shop. Remove the car parking on the quay and leave the spaces on the road outside the GPO/Ulster Bank/Fieldmaster as blue badge, age friendly, and set down spots.

Extract from Michael Walsh's Management Report for Thursday's Plenery Meeting. After months of silence Michael has finally decided to write something other than "The council is hoping to progress a proposal to completion in the coming months" about the North Quays in his management report.

Sounds like positive news and I'd be very interested to see what plans this joint venture has. Hopefully it's a development along the lines of the original plans. I am a little uneasy however that the council are selling the land to this JV before anything has even been announced on it. The last thing we need is this proposal to fall apart and then yet another strategic site in Waterford City is in the hands of a private developer who'll sit on it until it appreciates in value, and they can sell it on.

Would it not make sense for Waterford Council to become a part of the joint venture along with ISIF and the private developer thus ensuring some sort of input into the general direction of the development? Similar to the Abbey Quarter development in Kilkenny which is a JV between Kilkenny Council and ISIF, although I know that is a far smaller scale than the North Quays.

I'd be more concerned about the Council trying to play a role in the development of this site, outside of providing critical infrastructure.

They have no experience or expertise in this sort of work. They're restricted by all sorts of rules and restrictions that don't apply to a private developer.

Better to sell the thing and reinvest the money in something else.

The council is full of overpaid incompetent plonkers who like yo whittle away government money on projects that the private sector wouldn’t touch……

They should be doing things the private sector wouldn't do. That's kind of the point. If government money was only used for things which can make private style profits, the country would be in a terrible mess. What would roads be like if they only exist for profit? Are you prepared to pay a toll on every road? How many bus routes if they only exist for profit?

People need to get over the idea that public services have to make a profit. They don't.

see our old buddy Mr. Cass is still on twitter peddling false promises.

Additional €60m for Waterford North Quays Project (irishexaminer.com)

As a Waterford person, experience has thought me to ask..... what's the catch? This looks like good news.

Exactly even the infrastructure alone for the NQ would be brilliant. I live in Ferrybank and the new bridge would be transformational for me, I'd cycle over to town for work instead of drive. The dual carriageway and the roundabout at the train station is just too dangerous for that at the moment.

I will be eagerly awaiting news from today's cabinet.

Approved! Is there any renders of the proposed developments, I know this is infrastructure related the announcement today. A 15 storey hotel is planned. Be good to see the plan for it!