THE GREYSTONES ‘Give Us Back Our Harbour’ group has welcomed the significant progress made in recent weeks in negotiations with Sispar (the partnership tasked with redeveloping the harbour).

“This success means that the community is very close to a plan for the harbour area which will leave it in a satisfactory condition as a community resource for future years,” said GUBOH spokesman Basil Miller.

“Sispar has delivered significant improvements at the south end of the harbour which will be open to the public within weeks. In addition they have installed much needed boat pens for the marine clubs which will available for next summer.”

They also promised further improvements at the Harbour Liaison Committee on 13 September, including public lighting and safety measures.

“There is more good news”, said Miller. “They announced that there will be berths available in the marina basin next summer and that the company will make substantial improvements to the final stretch of the Cliff Walk near Greystones.

“The stretch from the north beach to the harbour came in for a lot of criticism due to the unsightly fencing and the debris left there when work on the residential element of the development was halted last winter.  Sispar have also agreed to remove the remaining hoarding from the North Beach Road and replace it with fencing in the immediate future,” said Miller.

“This is a huge relief for the residents and the community as a whole. “And the decrepit temporary office opposite the Beach House will be removed and new accommodation for the harbourmaster located elsewhere on the site.”

Miller explained that there are still a few unresolved issues which GUBOH and others in the community are working on.

“Sispar is of the opinion that they cannot open the North Pier to the public and they have also fenced off some areas of the South Pier which we believe should be open to the public. They have concerns about how to safely maintain these areas and to protect their commercial interests and we will be discussing these concerns with them at the HLC in the coming months to achieve a resolution.

“The reality is that the Medical Centre is highly unlikely to be built and there is no hope of any housing development in the area for a long time to come,” he said. “The solution to the harbour must reflect this reality. Whatever we get now will be what the town will have in place most likely for a very long time.”

Miller concluded by thanking the members of Greystones Town Council for their efforts in helping to bring about a resolution. “Since early July a great deal of constructive work was done in the background by councillors and by community groups. I think we are very close to resolving this issue and I hope that in the very near future GUBOH can take down our banners and we can all enjoy our community harbour.”

“In that regard, the Fire & Light Festival at the harbour on Culture Night, 23 September, gave us a fabulous taste of what is possible, and what it will mean to have our harbour back.  That day is not far off.”