A WATERFORD city councillor has expressed his fear that the hunt to find new development for the north quays site is losing momentum.
Eddie Mulligan, FF, said he's "aghast" that a commercial advisor to attract a new developer to the site has still not been appointed - eight weeks after the deal with Falcon Real Estate fell through.
"I think it's ludicrous, to be honest," Eddie Mulligan told Deise Today.
"I'm getting enquiries from potential developers and interested parties. It's eight weeks since we lost Falcon and if you were in any small or even big commercial business and you had a vacancy crucial for the sustainability of that business into the future, you would have that (tender) document sorted in rapid time."
Eddie Mulligan raised the matter at the plenary meeting of the council last Thursday.
He explained he had already passed on enquiries (to council officials) from three credible investors from Europe, London and the Middle East and was wondering who, in particular, in the council was available to talk to such people.
However, Michael Quinn - who is the council's Director of Services for Economic Development and Planning - said it was likely to be four to six weeks before an advisor (whose job it would be to attract and liaise with potential developers) would be in place.
He said there was significant work to be done in terms of defining that service - and they were aiming to have the tender out for the commercial advisor in September.
Speaking to Damien Tiernan on Deise Today this morning (Tuesday), councillor Eddie Mulligan said the work on the advisor role is not happening fast enough.
"I have been telling interested parties that we are in the process of appointing commercial advisors so the momentum is being lost here."
He also said that the north quays and the development of Michael Street were now going to be totally separate projects - and this added to his concerns.
"When (the two) were being driven by Falcon we all got a sense Michael Street was not the priority but now we're in a situation where we're re-visting it," he said, adding that three-four months ago councillors were presented with a nice potential plan for Michael Street (including a new city centre hotel) but there had been no update since.
He said that site had planning permission on it already but if tweaks were needed, now is the time to do the work, with footfall needed in the city centre.
You can listen back to Eddie Mulligan's interview on Deise Today by clicking below here...
