Galway Harbour Redevelopment

Galway Harbour © Galway Harbour

The West of Ireland needs your help. The very imaginative Galway harbour development plan has been asking for public consultation.

Anyone who has been to Galway knows that it's a vibrant, historic college town in the west of Ireland. Visiting by boat has been challenging, however, because of the lack of adequate facilities for the maritime community.

Galway Harbour, which is mainly a commercial facility in the heart of the ancient city, has been reimagined. The new development will have mixed-use facilities in a redesigned urban quarter, including a cruise ship port, full-service marina, residential and business buildings, and a whole host of additional recreational assets in a wholly sustainable environment. The proposal includes an art gallery and many other innovative attractions. For those who have not seen the detailed plans, there are huge benefits to all boat users as well as those who would like to have a city quarter where marinas, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops are located overlooking exciting and attractive marine leisure activities. The website provides lots of information.

As part of the planning process, a public consultation has been activated on May 5 which will remain open for 6 weeks. So far, probably to nobody's surprise, the nay-sayers have been quickly mobilised and have given significant levels of negative feedback. All of us who see the benefit in the proposals need to make ourselves heard.

So, this is how you do it! You need to specifically go to galway-harbour.com/survey.

This is the official form that will be used by the company that has been appointed to gather public feedback. When you're giving your feedback, please explain your level of involvement (e.g. you own a boat and would love to visit Galway, you would love to visit the west coast of Ireland but the lack of facilities has been putting you off.)

Even if you have no direct involvement but would love to have this attraction to enjoy as a 'quality of life' experience, don't be shy to explain! There is significant economic benefit to having employers and talented staff attracted to work or establish businesses in the city simply because of quality of life attractions. These benefits help to make the case for state investment. Your views will be much appreciated.

This article has been provided by the courtesy of Ocean Cruising Club.