Yvonne Crotty (Bonzie Crotty Designs), Mayor of Waterford John Cummins and Elaine Sarah Comerford (Button & Co) pictured at the launch of the Waterford City Centre Management Plan
A sum of €100,000 has been allocated to explore the potential to develop a high quality City Market and progress proposals, if feasible, while €50,000 has been earmarked for the development of Michael Street.
In a further attempt to boost city centre trading, pay and display on-street parking charges will be reduced from €1.80 to €1.50 outside the core city centre area, including Ballybricken, the Mayor’s Walk, O’Connell Street and the Glen and this provision will cost the Council almost €100,000 annually. Parking will also continue to be available for €1 per hour in Miller’s Marsh and Bolton Street and will also apply at the proposed car park earmarked for the Gasworks site.
There will be further investment in urban renewal beyond the Viking Quarter, with Michael Street, Exchange Street, Patrick Street and Miller’s Marsh identified as key opportunity sites for further substantial retail development.
Meanwhile O’Connell Street and George’s Street is to be developed as a ‘family-oriented arts and culture area’, with Garter Lane as the anchor.
The Council has entered into a lease arrangement on the large unoccupied presbytery on George’s Street which is to be refurbished as part of this initiative.
City Hall has also published new promotional materials to help ‘sell’ the city centre to retailers and other investors, while €80,000 will be spent on the installation of way-finding signage in the city centre.
The Management Plan is aimed at securing several thousand existing jobs and was prepared in recent months by a group of city centre stakeholders working closely together ‘for the first time’, according to Mayor Cummins.
“There has been legitimate concern expressed at how Waterford city centre is faring during the recession and a recognition that action is needed to ensure that this is a vibrant and attractive area to spend time in, whether in the daytime or at night,” he said.
“Some of the great festivals in Waterford have shown us what the city centre is like at its best – our challenge now is to ensure that some of that magic is on offer year-round.
“Crucially, this is an action plan that takes on board the current economic environment. This means it is ambitious but also realistic and achievable.
“There are clear deliverables, budgeting and timelines with responsibility assigned and measurement mechanisms to track progress. Rather than a grand vision that will gather dust, this is a straightforward plan with a series of steps that – taken together – can drive regeneration in our city centre.”
For the record, the Waterford City Centre Management Group which oversee the new plan’s implementation are Mayor John Cummins, Cllr Tom Cunningham; Cllr Seamus Ryan; Michael Walsh (City Manager), Lar Power (Waterford City Council), Nick Donnelly (Waterford Chamber), Eddie Mulligan (Waterford City Centre Business Group), Alan Weston (City Square Shopping Centre), Adrian McArdle (Debenhams Waterford), Des O’Shea (REA O’Shea O’Toole Estate Agents), Nichola Beresford (Tidy Towns), Chief Supt Pat Murphy (An Garda Síochána) and Stan McIlvenny (Port of Waterford). We’ll have more on this new venture in next week’s edition.
