Latest News & Announcements

Local authorities must identify official bathing areas in their area every year so that they can be monitored for safety, water quality and their level of use. To help with this process, Waterford City & County Council are asking people who swim at beaches, lakes and rivers to tell them if they think they should maintain existing designated bathing waters designations or give a new official bathing area designation to areas that are commonly used for swimming, but not identified at the moment.

Under European and Irish law, Irish local authorities must identify bathing waters each year so that these areas can be monitored to ensure they meet stringent microbiological water quality standards. In some cases, the official bathing areas are also the areas where local authorities focus their resources providing lifeguards during the summer season. These laws also require that the local authority prepares detailed descriptions or profiles for each of the identified bathing water sites that describe not just the bathing area but also areas in the surface waters catchment area that could be a source of pollution. The profiles include an assessment the risk of pollution and what action would
be taken if pollution occurs.

If you are a regular swimmer and want to help your Council decide which bathing areas should be classified as such, it might be helpful to consider the following:
· How your swimming area has been used up to now;
· How many people use the site;
· What facilities exist at the site and how accessible it is;
· Any safety issues.

If you wish to propose your favourite beach/river etc as a new bathing water site or comment on an existing site please drop us a line at http://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/administration/complaintform.htm

Closing date for submissions Waterford City & County Council is 28th July 2016. For further information please email bathing@waterfordcouncil.ie

National Bike Week runs from Saturday 11th to Sunday 19th June. Enjoy seven days on two wheels celebrating and promoting all that is great about cycling. There are a wide range of events taking place throughout Waterford.

Bike Week not only promotes the leisure and fun aspects of cycling as a family, with friends, to sightsee…it also highlights why it is important to choose cycling as a means to commute to work, to do the crèche or school run or to run errands. Cycling is environmentally friendly, as it cuts congestion and has zero emissions, and it is also much lower in cost than travelling by public transport or a car.

See Waterford Sports Partnership for more details …

1: How many submissions and observations did the Council receive during the pre-draft consultation phase between January 29th and March 31st? (Will we, the public, get a look at these submissions?)

The Council received 16 submissions as part of the pre draft consultation phase. It is not intended that these submissions will be made public at this point however as part of the next phase, which is a statutory process, any submissions received will form part of a Chief Executives report and will be available to the public.

2: The artist’s impressions for the site, as publicly displayed at the launch of the SDZ…these are drawings and not the only consideration for the site, I presume that’s a correct assertion?

Correct, WCCC are working from a blank canvas in the preparation of the Planning scheme and the artist impressions simply highlight previous visions for the site.

3: Would the Council consider an academic presence on the site, i.e. WIT, which would, I suggest, represent a long-term, sustainable use for a section of the redeveloped site?

The SDZ designation allows, amongst others, for educational uses and such uses will be examined in the context of the planning scheme.

4: Will the Council be exploring the prospect of art installations on the site as has occurred on other redeveloped dockside developments in recent decades, such as in Nantes, France?

It is likely that the site will accommodate some features of an artistic/cultural nature.

5: In terms of flood defences for the site, would Kilkenny County Council be called upon to provide additional defences upriver of the site, given the flooding that has occurred in recent years at Plunkett Station and the historic flooding in that area, i.e. defending the North Quay alone will not completely defend the SDZ site from flooding?

Consultants are being appointed to consider the engineering and environmental issues which will include ‘Flood Risk Assessment’ being carried out to inform the planning scheme. The recommendations of same will be considered by WCCC and appropriate action taken to ensure adequate flood defences.

6: Is the Council cognisant of the existing vacant office space in Waterford city centre – 50 per cent at Railway Square and 30 per cent at Maritana Gate – when it comes to finalising what proportion of office space will be devoted within the floor space of the redeveloped project?

The portion of office space to be included in the SDZ has yet to be decided; however WCCC is aware of the issues in relation to office accommodation in Waterford. It is envisaged that the SDZ will allow for the creation of a new urban quarter that will attract large scale investment, creating  an “office culture” and generate demand for further office development in the City.

7: The non-statutory nature of this phase means, I presume, that the Council can adopt, particularly at this moment in time, a pretty flexible approach to how the project shall ultimately unfold? Or am I wrong in making such an assertion?

The preparation of a planning scheme and adoption of same is a statutory process.The draft scheme therefore will have to be robust enough and strategic in its aims as to satisfy scrutiny of An Bord Pleanala.  It is imperative that the scheme reflects the SDZ designation as to its importance as an economic driver of national/regional significance.

8: “Critically, the draft planning scheme shall have to be prepared by the City & County Council, meaning the prospect remains that a Government of a different composition, and with different policy objectives, may make final approval on the SDZ submission.” (The Munster Express, December 1st 2015). Has the Council, as of yet, engaged with the new Government in relation to the North Quay project?

While the Government designated the SDZ, the preparation of the North Quays planning scheme will be a reserved function of the members of WCCC and not a function of central government. The planning scheme can be appealed to An Bord Pleanala.

9: When will we see the draft planning scheme for the site?

It is anticipated that the draft planning scheme will be on public display in the first quarter of 2017.

10: Who is spearheading the planning scheme within the Council and how many staff are engaged in its preparation?

A Steering Group consisting of CE WCCC and CEO of Waterford Port with other senior management staff members has been established to oversee the project.  A multidisciplinary team has also been established within the Council to prepare the Planning Scheme, which includes Planners, Architects and Engineers. The Planning Scheme will be informed by the Engineering/Environmental Consultants Report (See No5 above).

Exhibition continues until September 10th 2016

Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery – Admission Free

Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery is pleased to present The RHA Waterford Selection, an exhibition comprising of 39 works from the Waterford Municipal Art Collection.  The pieces on display were carefully selected by Patrick Murphy, Director of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, for exhibition in the RHA in 2015.

“Waterford City consistently collected contemporary art from the late 1930’s through to the early seventies. Funds to acquire art were made available by the City Council, which from time to time were combined with the Arts Council Joint Purchase Scheme. Donations to the collection were made on a regular basis by the Haverty Trust and from local collections. Waterford’s Municipal Collection is a strong representative collection of Irish art of the 20th Century. “ – Patrick Murphy, Director, Royal Hibernian Academy

The exhibition takes a chronological look at the collection’s RHA members, with works ranging from 1880 to 2008 in mediums of oil, gouache, watercolour, pastel, print and mixed media.

Artist include Paul Henry, William Conor, Martin Gale, Evie Hone, Dermod O’ Brien, Mainie Jellet, Harry Kernoff, Grace Henry, Jack B. Yeats and many more…

Address: Greyfriars Municipal Gallery, Greyfriars Street, Waterford.
Open: Tuesday – Saturday: 10am – 5pm
T: 076110 2983. Email: greyfriars@waterfordcouncil.ie

ADMISSION TO GREYFRIARS MUNICIPAL GALLERY IS ALWAYS FREE