Master plan is finalised for €200m port development

Date Published: 25-Jul-2011

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

The Master Plan for the €200 million redevelopment of Galway Port has been finalised and will be submitted to An Bórd Pleanála within the next three weeks, the Sentinel has learned.

If given the go-ahead, construction work on the new ‘Waterfront City’ will begin in 2013.

And the head of Galway Harbour Company is confident that the €50m in funding required for Stage 1 can be raised through a combination of borrowing, investment and selling off unnecessary assets.

The planning application – which circumvents local planning and goes directly to An Bórd Pleanála under ‘Strategic Infrastructure Development’ legislation – has been finalised and is being studied by Senior Counsel for the Harbour Company.

Chief Executive Eamon Bradshaw told the Sentinel: “It will be [sent] within the next three weeks, definitely before the end of August. Once it’s with the Board, they send the Environmental Impact Statement out to nominated bodies (such as the Department of the Environment, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and An Taisce). It’s a very thorough and comprehensive document.

“Then the document goes up onto Bórd Pleanála website and there is a statutory timeframe for submissions and objections,” said Mr Bradshaw.

It is likely that the Board will call for an oral hearing on the application, which Mr Bradshaw expects would happen in the autumn, and he is hopeful of a decision in the new year.

“Funding is still pretty well identified through the disposal of unnecessary assets, borrowings and investment. I’m confident that I can raise the funding.

“The support is tremendous, and Transport Minister Leo Varadkar and the Taoiseach are supportive of the plan,” said Mr Bradshaw.S

tage 1 involves relocating the existing ‘docks’ outside to an outer port – this will allow for the rejuvenation of the Inner Port and the creation of a new ‘Cultural Quarter’ for the city.

Included in the plans are a new marina with around 200 berths and a terminal building for cruise liners.

By 2015, up to 50 cruise liners per year are expected to dock at Galway Port, bringing around 200,000 visitors to the city and an economic boost of around €50m.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel