Developers expect end to delays with €300m marina plan

BACKERS OF a stalled €300 million redevelopment project at Greystones harbour in Co Wicklow have said they expect the next phase of the project to get under way as soon as this September.

Developer Sispar revealed this week that it had already spent €70 million on the ambitious project, some €14 million of this from their own resources after the banks suspended funding for the project in spring 2010.

Envisaged in the development is a 270-berth marina, a primary care medical centre, some five new clubhouses for existing harbour users, a Coast Guard house, as well as commercial, leisure and office facilities, a new beach and some 375 new homes.

Sispar, which comprises both Sisk and Park Developments, has over the last five years already built major new harbour walls in place of the former crumbling Victorian piers.

Acknowledging that the marina was delayed due to a legal action, Sispar said it nevertheless “expects” an announcement within weeks that would allow work to begin on a proposed primary care centre as soon as September.

It is understood that the announcement it is referring to relates to private sector funding for the primary care centre.

The centre was also promised exchequer funding a number of years ago.

In an overview of the project, Paraic Keogh of Sispar said the housing aspect would have to await better economic conditions in the property market.

In the meantime, the site for the housing is to be grassed over and improvements made to fencing of the local cliff walk.

Mr Keogh said Sispar, which is in partnership with Wicklow County Council in the development, was “grateful for the patience and ongoing support it has received”.

With regard to the marina, Mr Keogh said while “we had hoped to progress the installation this year, there was a difficulty in that there are current legal proceedings with regard to the marina operation”.

He said, however, that the company was “working relentlessly” to secure the necessary funding and agreements to ensure the completion of the project.

Local councillor Derek Mitchell, who as chairman of Wicklow County Council signed the contract with Sispar, said he was disappointed about the delay with the marina.

But he expressed confidence in the project’s completion and welcomed Sispar’s commitment to maintenance of the project.

He also welcomed efforts to deal with erosion of the beach within the new harbour walls.

“Sispar said that the erosion on the beach is in line with the expected amount of coastal retreat in the contract, and with the pattern over the last century,” he said.

Mr Mitchell said public meetings had identified significant interest among boat owners in taking space in the proposed marina and, while he was disappointed the marina was delayed, he believed the demand for space was a positive sign that it would be developed in time.