A local Fianna Fail councillor has outlined how Waterford and Kilkenny County Councils must work together as opposed to in competition when it comes to retail offerings in the pipeline.
Cllr. Eddie Mulligan has voiced concerns upon the lack of engagement between Waterford County Council and Kilkenny County Council on the future of the Ferrybank Shopping Centre.
Representatives from Kilkenny Council understand that the long-running dispute relating to the centre is set to be nearing resolution by the end of this month.
"I understand that Kilkenny councillors were told by one of their directors of services that there's an agreement imminent - between, as I understand it - the last anchor tenant that was supposed to be there, and the current owners of the building. I believe that a timeline of the end of February was given, and that we could potentially see retail opening there. Now we as Waterford Council, have been told nothing about that. "
Cllr. Mulligan says this will provide competition to what Waterford proposes to offer with the North Quays - and he believes the counties should collaborate rather than compete.
"If planning permission is granted for the Ferrybank Centre to re-open primarily as a retail centre - which would have shops, an anchor tenant, coffee shops and so on - that is going to be in direct competition for what was previously proposed, not only for the North Quays, but for our own city centre. In that respect, we have a huge opportunity here, not just in Waterford but in Kilkenny - and the South East, to get it right on the North Quays in so far as attracting information, communication and technology type jobs. We can attract in excess of 300 accomodation units, and also attract the right mix of retail and service offerings - including a hospitality offering. We, as Waterford Council need to be talking to Kilkenny Council to ensure that we compliment, as opposed to compete in offerings between the North Quays and the Ferrybank Centre and Waterford City Centre also."
'Disconnect'
The Fianna Fail representative says there is a 'huge disconnect' at present - and the issue could have been ironed out some time ago when it came to the review of the Waterford and Kilkenny county boundary.
"There's a huge disconnect there. Even if we are supposed to have councillors liaising with councillors in the Ferrybank area - Kilkenny and Waterford where they both overlap. A second issue which is coming to the fore - is that I was one of the six councillors that presented on behalf of Waterford Council to the then Boundary Committee. At the time, the Boundary Committee recommended an extension of Waterford City into South Kilkenny. I made the presentation on the economic and enterprise areas of Waterford City on that - and one of the hot topics at the time was the Ferrybank Shopping Centre, and what would be the way forward for that. If the boundary had been extended, Waterford Council would have taken the use of that shopping centre into account such as for office type services, a community type centre, and then the North Quays would primarily be your hospitality, residential, retail type offering.
'Ungoverned'
Cllr. Mulligan believes that the Ferrybank area has been 'ungoverned' and that there has been no effective means of political management implemented locally, despite years of promises to achieve such.
"Now, because we have an ungoverned area. Simon Coveney, who was Minister at the time, he proposed that there would be a body set up where the two sets of councillors would control that area. To me, that hasn't happened yet. There has been no effective political administration or management body set up since then to manage the South Kilkenny and Waterford / Ferrybank areas for proper sustainable growth into the future. There are two issues there, and they both need to be addressed. If we are to drive Waterford City forward as the economic driver of the South East, not only to the benefit of Waterford and Kilkenny people - but also, to the mutual benefit of all people in the South East."
'Kept in the dark'
Speaking in relation to the North Quays, Cllr. Mulligan noted his discontent on how councillors in Waterford are being 'kept in the dark' with regard to the latest updates on the progress of developments. While he is conscious of the local authority's concerns on commercially sensitive material, he believes there needs to be more trust evident.
"Government and public representation has changed in the sense that it has become much more transparent. The public need to have confidence in their public representatives, but in their government officials, also. Even if only a select number of councillors were picked. I spoke about the negotations relating to the boundary extension at the time - there was six councillors picked who were heavily involved in collaborating and working with one another. We came up with a document that we were going to present, but we briefed all of the councillors on it. I quote the Audit Committee - we have two councillors sitting on this, and it is shrouded in the highest levels of confidentiality. Very rarely, they break that confidentiality. I sat on it myself for a while. What I am saying is yes, I firmly believe that a number of councillors could be involved in those confidential negotiations - and certainly, the steering and listening. Are we actually going the right way forward? Is this what the people want? At the end of the day, it's public money - and it's public lands."
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