North Quays New Dawn

A €30 million investment is to be made on Waterford’s North Quay, with work on the site’s ‘reinvention’ set to commence in advance of the general election.
Meanwhile, a new Boundary Commission, the membership of which will be named later this week, is to re-examine the thorny issue of the North Waterford city/South Kilkenny boundary, and will report back to the Government by the end of November.
This news comes just days after Waterford City & County Council Chief Executive Michael Walsh and Minister of State Paudie Coffey confirmed that the entire North Quay site is now under the local authority’s ownership.
Speaking to The Munster Express, Minister Coffey said that all outstanding issues in relation to the site “had been finally resolved” and that action, rather than talk, would soon be in evidence on the North Quay.
“This is no longer about drawings and discussions about potential plans for the North Quay,” said Minister Coffey. “We are now well beyond all of that.”
The project shall include the construction of two new office blocks, a multi-storey car park the extension of the railway line, along with a new railway station on the North Quay, flood defence works and the building of a 250-metre, navigation-friendly pedestrian bridge connecting the site to the Clock Tower.
“Now that contracts have been signed regarding the long-awaited demolition of the old Flour Mills on the site, work which should take between 10 to 12 weeks to complete, we’re finally en route to seeing this significant site, at long last, being put to productive and sustainable use.”
The long-mooted footbridge will, in Minister Coffey’s view, “bring connectivity across the River Suir directly to the heart of Waterford’s business and retail sector. The new railway station, situated away from the Mount Misery rock face, is also likely to curtail any fears over the current station’s operational suitability, which we reported on last week.
Meanwhile, works to improve the North Wharf and quayside, to protect the new train station and site from flooding (which it has been historically subjected to) are also to form part of this ambitious plan.