Forum boost for docklands strategy
It is expected CIÉ will be put under pressure to get started on a €500 million joint project it announced earlier this year with Manor Park Homes, which includes the reconfiguration of Kent railway station and a massive housing and apartment development on Horgan’s Quay.
The docklands strategy envisages the creation of thousands of apartments and homes, crèches, shops, public parks, riverside walkways and thousands of square feet of retail and office space.
But progress has been slower than expected.
The establishment of the forum follows the publication of a progress report by the city council’s planning department two years into the city development plan.
“The docklands has been slower to respond ... with few commitments and little change on the ground,” the report said.
It also found that the pace of development of the city’s North Docks - where CIÉ owns most of the land - has been slower than anticipated.
The forum will bring the interested parties together in a bid to speed up the pace of redevelopment.
Councillor Jim Corr said he was glad to see the establishment of the forum.
“We must convince institutions like UCC and CIT to build in the docklands,” he said.
“And we must tell CIÉ to get on with their work once and for all.”
However, other key projects to guide the overall docklands strategy, some of which required material contraventions of the city development plan, have been delivered over the last two years.
A North Docks Local Area Plan has already been drawn up.
It was tweaked slightly on Monday night when the size of a proposed public park was increased from 0.4ha to 0.6ha.
A study to assess the economic impact of regeneration is being commissioned and an area plan to guide redevelopment on the south docks is planned.
Plans are also in place to promote the development of the docks area to the east of the former An Post site at Eglinton Street.
However, planners said accessibility to the region needs to be improved.
