Search Results for 'Augustine Hill'

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For the vast majority of visitors to Galway those who come to shop to visit, to study, or to stay, the first impression for many years has been the dour greasy uninviting Ceannt Station. Ostensibly an impressive building in its day, for decades now, it has been outdated and unable to cater for the tens of thousands of people who use it weekly.

So here we are, at the turn of the Galway year. They used to say that if there were intercounty players at the Galway Races, that they must be out of the championship, their boots hung up for another year.

Greater levels of parking in the city centre will lead to increased traffic congestion, which will result in falling numbers coming into the city centre - a situation which will negatively impact on business.

The backers of the game-changing Augustine Hill urban regeneration project to be built on lands at the rear of Ceannt Station have welcomed the news delivered this week that Galway City Council planners have approved the project, albeit with 53 conditions, most of which are standard.

It is perhaps surprising that a city such as Galway which was built on the water and is mostly surrounded by it, should have taken this long to realise that perhaps for centuries, we have been looking the wrong way. There are not many cities that have the proximity of its port so close to the city centre and yet have it so underutilised. Perhaps now, comes the vision that will change that.

The scale of the massive game-changing development Augustine Hill, to be located on lands adjacent to Ceannt Station, has been reduced significantly in a number of ways, in designs submitted in response to requests for further information from planners at Galway City Council.

When the Justice Minister spoke earlier this week about her plans to extend the opening hours and to create measures to stimulate the nighttime economy, I was reminded of just how much this would impact Galway in particular, because of its role as a party capital and cultural hub.

A planning application has today been lodged for the eight-acre infill development site adjacent to Ceannt Train Station in Galway city centre that will see the creation of eleven new streets and four new civic spaces in a development that will create a new neighbourhood in the heart of the city.

Over the past few months I have opined and received many responses on the need for a big discussion on how Galway will be shaped in the next 10 years, because the next 10, and the opportunities it allows, will shape what will be achieved in the next one hundred.