€280m Waterford plan to create 1,200 jobs

UP TO 1,200 jobs for Waterford have been promised by the backers of a huge urban development, which was yesterday given permission by An Bord Pleanála.

KRM Construction Partnership had already secured planning permission from Waterford City Council for its €280 million project, but that decision was appealed by a number of parties, including the Waterford Trade Unions Council and a local traders’ group.

However, yesterday’s approval clears the way for work to start on the development, which includes more than 50 retail outlets, a 107-bedroom hotel and conference centre, 28 homes, and arts, cultural and community facilities.

The five-acre site that will be used for construction borders Michael Street, New Street, Alexander Street, Stephen Street and Brown’s Lane in the centre of Waterford and the blueprint has been given the backing of the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

KRM boss, Paul Miskella, said the plan was “hugely important” to revitalising the city centre and underpinning Waterford’s status as the gateway to the south-east.

The application was the subject of a three-day oral hearing last November.

Negotiations will be kick-started with potential operators of the retail outlets as well as hotel operators and management companies.

The proposal includes 600 parking spaces, a leisure centre and a rooftop viewing area designed to offer panoramic views of the city.

Consortium member Dan Kickham said they had been encouraged by the level of support in Waterford “and by the appetite that clearly exists across the community there for the type of large-scale development that can attract big-name retailers and large numbers of shoppers and visitors to the city centre”.

The city, he said, “is in need of significant regeneration to respond to currently unmet demand and to allow Waterford to take its rightful place in Ireland’s retail hierarchy alongside the other major cities”.

According to Ciaran Redmond of Redmond Civil Engineering, site clearance work can now start.

“We will obviously be engaging in a considerable public information and community liaison campaign as we do this in what we are very conscious of being such an important city centre location,” he said.

Mr Miskella added that the board’s decision vindicated the consortium’s plans, as well as “Waterford City Council’s decision to approve those plans over 16 months ago”.

The backers have continued to consult with supporters and people with concerns about the scheme in the intervening period, according to KRM.

They had previously argued that Waterford, with a catchment population of 460,000, was losing at least €19.2m a year to other towns and cities because of a lack of retail facilities.

Among the concerns of opponents of the KRM scheme were the scale of the project and the traffic it would generate.