Reviving the Quay

AMBITIOUS PLANS? It is hoped that crowds like this one at a family fun day at the Quay last year would flock on a regular basis to a regenerated area.

Community unite behind plan to rejuvenate Westport Quay

Neill O’Neill

A public meeting was held last Tuesday to discuss the rejuvenation of the Quay area of Westport and formulate a submission for inclusion in the Westport Town Development Plan, which reflects the views of the Quay area community.
Chaired by James O’Doherty, the meeting was well-attended and facilitated people to sit in groups and brainstorm and discuss ideas before presenting them to the floor. Representatives from most of the businesses at the Quay and several community groups were in attendance, along with members of Westport Harbour Commissioners and Westport Town Council, and an agreement was reached to form a committee and grade each proposal by priority – as either immediate, medium-term or long-term.
They also proposed to include all the ideas in their submission for inclusion with the town development plan, the deadline for which is May 15 next.
Emphasis was placed by the different groups on varying factors, but among the recurring themes was the need for a bus service to link the Quay with Westport town, a community facility and the need to have the currently vacant retail units adjacent to the Harbour Mill complex occupied.
There were also calls to clarify if the area should be known as Westport Quay or Westport Harbour, and to create an artificial beach in the area and have the Point regenerated as a swimming facility as it was in decades past. Calls were made for everyone in the area to work in conjunction with Mayo County Council, Westport Town Council and Westport Harbour Commissioners – who remain in charge of much of the area.
Earlier in the meeting James O’Doherty said that there are now 229 apartments and holiday homes and one hotel in the Quay area, but all the accommodation between the gate of Westport House and the Asgard is rented. He said that the area has grown significantly in the last ten years and that the unprecedented pupil numbers at the Quay School are testament to this.
“How can we make the identity of the Quay stronger?” he asked, urging people to think of ways in which everybody could act to ‘improve both the commercial activity and community life in the area, to bring about a living Quay’.
He said that the marina proposal for the area was a long-term plan and only time and the Government would decide the fate of the project, but emphasised that in the interim there is a lot that can be done locally to see the Quay fulfil its potential.

Wish list at a glance

> Green area for children with permanent facilities
> Bus link between town and Quay on the hour Marina (long-term)
> Get empty retail units occupied
> Demolish old mill
> Improve street lighting, footpaths, signage, amenities and publicity for area
> Brand Quay area through brochure
> Emphasise marine activities, install pontoon and gangway and dredge harbour channel
> Landscaping of amenity
work
> Create an artificial
beach
> Work in close liaison with Westport House