A new 'south plaza' area is to be created around the Clock Tower in Waterford.
Waterford City and County Council has purchased the land, which is currently in use as a car park with 139 spaces, under the compulsory purchase order scheme.
A site survey will begin in January, with the main construction work expected to take place in Autumn of 2021.
Fianna Fail Councillor Eddie Mulligan said the area will serve as a landing area for the sustainable transport bridge to the North Quays and in the interim will serve as a compound for the main construction works on the southern side of the river. He believes that the plaza will be a great addition to the city and the Greenway extension:
"It's great news. That area, in particular, will have the Clock Tower as its focal point, one of the most photographed buildings in Waterford...It will be a plaza area where people can relax, walk, enjoy and it will be a meeting point for walkers, cyclists across the sustainable bridge from Ferrybank and people coming in from the West on the Greenway.
Reinvention is underway in #Waterford as @WaterfordCounci CPO’ed the area in red on both sides of our #ClockTower containing 139 #CarParking spaces!
It will be the new South #Plaza & connecting area for new bridge to #NorthQuays as per image.
Site survey starts January ‘21 💙 https://t.co/eSEZvGfxfu pic.twitter.com/zC8M9CASND— Eddie Mulligan (@MulliganEddie) November 28, 2020
Land transfer
Meanwhile, the transfer of the land titles for the North Quays and Michael Street developments is expected to take place on December 10th.
Waterford councillors will vote on the land disposal at next week's plenary meeting which would see the acreage sold to Falcon Real Estate Developers for €9 million.
Assuming the transfer of land goes ahead as planned, the Council's Chief Executive Michael Walsh said the next stage for the local authority was the issuing of tenders worth around 130 million euro towards the end of Quarter One 2021 for work on the bridge, transport hub and access routes.
Running alongside this it's expected the developer will be running its procurements
