Architectural impression of how Exchange St would look from the City Square car-park entrance.
The backer of a €15m project on a vacant site in Waterford – who is also involved in other major developments outside the city centre – says he’s “flabbergasted” by the short shrift it’s received from council planners.
According to Dr Gerard O’Hare CBE, Managing Director of Parker Green International, the development of retail units and a multi-storey car-park with 220 spaces at the junction of Exchange Street and High Street has the potential to generate 200 jobs during construction and up to 50 when finished.
Having only lodged the planning application on July 22 (a revision of previous proposals refused on appeal), he found it “incredible” that the council could flatly reject the development within eight weeks without requesting any further information or discussing it with his company.
“As with any projects we seek planning permission for in this country or overseas, we engaged with the local authority in pre-application discussions and believed our proposal was on the right track,” he said.
“With a planning fee of more than €35,000 paid less than eight weeks before the decision was reached to reject the project, this was a serious application entitled to be dealt with in a serious way.
“Frankly, we are flabbergasted at the planning outcome and think this decision is simply wrong. This is a proposal that can be delivered immediately – even in the present market”, he insists. “We now have no alternative but to proceed with an appeal to An Bord Pleanála.”
Just under a year ago the board upheld the City Council’s refusal on the grounds that it was an inappropriate design, and of excessive scale, bulk and height in the context of the area’s character and neighbouring protected structures.
But Dr O’Hare believes its modified proposal “represents an exciting urban regeneration project for this dilapidated and derelict part of the city. The design provides for an attractive new streetscape that would regenerate and improve Exchange Street and High St, which are currently dominated by the City Square car-park entrance and loading areas along with the telephone exchange. We also plan for an active street frontage of appropriate scale that would offer much-needed connectivity with the Quays.”
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urban vandalism,
typical cc refused permission for ardree site as well look at it now
Here we go again with Waterford City Council planners, trying to flex their muscles, same as the refusal they gave on the former Ard Ri project that TRM developments applied for, TK Max at the Butlerstown retail park is another example and if you go back over the previous and not too distant years, there forms a trend of this. This is an outrage that this planning application for Exchange Street was refused aswell.
What is it with the planners in Waterford, do they not understand that unemployment is the highest in Ireland here in this City, it is steadily rising from an already high percentage of 18.6%. There should be more noise made about this, these people who are planners in the Council are being given far too much power. A fairer way has to be found, either that or we need a full new set of planners, or might I ask is this planning refussal the result of more so called local business people in the town at their old antics again? Maybe it is the same case as the reason why TK Max was forced to close their doors, because of a local business man who put the pressure on the Council simply because he deemed TK Max as a threat to his retail shopping cente, and believe me this guy knows who he is (as I am sure everyone in the City knows who i am speaking of too) and he should be boycotted and ashamed of himself. Why is Ireland so corrupt, where every one is in everyones pockets, and the Government is at the forefront of it all.
Why did the city stop the development???????Please help meeeeeeeeeeeeI’m confused…………
there is more places in waterford that NO-ONE is renting or able to even afford to go into… WHY would MORE waste of CASH be needed…
why not develop the Butlerstown roundabout the same as Clonmel did with their by bass, Dublin with theirs, and others around the country…
Waterford has a very lack of wanting the OUTSIDE the city develop…
Waterford has PLENTY of prime areas around the CITY,, (not in the city), so why cant waterford accept that and make the City grow 3-5 miles all round… join the likes of Ardkeen tobuttlerstown with massive development… where there is a good road, and land to play with !
OR is that no good for the big investers of the CITY CENTER
Sometimes I feel like burying my head in my arms in dispair! Why would the the council refuse planning on a derelict site like this. The council have done great work with the Crystal site & with the Harvest festival but this is just rediculous … if they think it is too big or out of character just say what changes they want made, Waterford has so much potential but these kind of decisions are really holding us back.
More jobs lost thanks to a few pen pushers who probably have interests in other sites being developed. If i had to chose between shopping in the city centre or the town outskirts I would chose the city centre everytime as there are only 6 bus routes in Waterford city including kenneallys and not everyone drives so developing big complexes outside with loads of parking is no good to those dependant on public transport which may not even go that way. At this stage they should be let build whatever they want to create employment anything is better than looking at vacant or derelict buildings such as this particular propsed site and the beautiful landmark that is the Ard Ri.
Another shopping center when there is a huge shopping center in ferrybank lying empty is crazy. just because some developer wants to make a few quid we have to let him do what ever he wants. who is going to spend the momey to keep all these shops open.
Aidan I would completely agree with Ellen on this, we cannot start developing the outskirts of this city any further until we get the City Centre sorted out first. You cant just write of the city centre just like that. It doesn’t make sense to do that, if we did we loose our identity as a proper open for business city.If you visit the city any day of the week now, …well, its like a ghost town, pretty much with unemployed people and retired people walking around with grim looks on their faces and their hands hanging. They certainly do not have shopping bags under their arms. It seems they just go into town for a walk to kill some time of their day. The Council know this is the case but they continue to charge for parking, issue parking tickets and refuse great commercial projects like this. Shouldn’t we be just about sick of this now, it is not good enough to allow these planners and pen pushers to deprive us of more job creation when we need it the most.
Hi,
Im not sure about the exact position of this development but isnt there city walls within the site that may need protecting?