Planning permission granted for Portwest Quay headquarters

GRANTED Planning permission has been granted for the development of Portwest's global headquarters at the Quay in Westport. This is an artist's impression of the development.

Anton McNulty

MAYO County Council have granted planning permission for the development of Portwest’s new €10 million global headquarters at The Quay in Westport.
The new global headquarters of the Westport workwear clothing giant will be located on the site of the old Pollexfen Mills on Roman Island at The Quay, Westport, with plans to employ up to 150 people.
Mayo County Council’s decision to grant planning permission subject to 37 conditions came less than two weeks after members of the West Mayo Municipal District approved a material convention to allow the site of the proposed developed to be rezoned. The land had previously been zoned as for Marine Related Tourism and the development could not go ahead without the material convention.
The proposed building was designed by Dublin-based MOLA Architecture, who stated that the unique design was inspired by ‘local rock outcrops and coastal tower houses’.
The predominately four-storey development will consist of approximately 2,593 square metres of office space and includes a gym, shower and changing facility, a canteen, cafe and ICT room. A fifth storey stair and lift core will provide access to a screened plant area at roof level.
As part of the planning permission conditions, Portwest will have to enter into a legally binding agreement indemnifying Mayo County Council against any liability in the event of the site and building being flooded by a flood event and any issues arising from such an event.

Reduced parking
The Council also reduced the proposed number of car parking spaces from 90 to 60 and also sought the developers to provide a looped walk through the proposed garden of the building that integrates with the existing access way along the southern side of the existing playing field, and through the site to the Quay.
Other conditions of the planning permission relate to providing a transport management plan during the construction phase, submitting a construction environmental monitoring plan and areas around architectural and financial contributions.
The location of the site proved to be contentious particularly, during the material contravention stage, when 87 valid submissions were received by Mayo County Council. Of the submissions, 62 objected to the material contravention, with 23 in support and two were neutral.
Despite the large number of submissions, Peter Hynes, the Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, recommended that the material contravention be approved and local councillors voted by six to one in favour.
Portwest is owned by the Hughes family from Westport and has been part of Westport since the early 1900s. In recent years have undergone an massive global expansion and is one of the world’s fastest growing safety products company and employs over 3,000 staff worldwide. The company say they have realistic targets of more than trebling staff numbers and reaching $1billion turnover within the next seven years.