New Coast Guard plan is agreed

DESIGNS for the new headquarters of Greystones Coast Guard have been agreed.

‘ The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has confirmed to me that the Coast Guard has agreed on plans for a single storey building at the harbour,’ said Deputy Stephen Donnelly.

He submitted a parliamentary question directly to Minister Donohoe who said that while it was expected that the existing planning permission would suffice for the new design, the OPW has been advised by Wicklow County Council that another planning application will need to be lodged for the new design.

The OPW is currently working on this and it is expected that the application will be lodged in the coming weeks.

‘ This progress is not only good news for the Coast Guard, but also the Gardaí,’ said Deputy Donnelly.

The local garda station in Greystones is hoping to use the current coast guard base as an extension when it gets its upgrade.

In another parliamentary question about the garda station, Deputy Donnelly learned that funding for the refurbishment is included in the ‘Capital Works Programme 2016-2021’ for An Garda Síochána.

‘ The final piece of this puzzle is to make sure that the gardaí don’t have to wait until the coastguard has physically moved out, before they can start all their pre-building paperwork,’ said Deputy Donnelly. ‘I’m going to look for permission to let them start their plans as soon as possible, shaving years off the project. It’s years our emergency services don’t have to waste.’

The existing coast guard station doesn’t have toilets, showers or changing facilities. The new plans will include boat access to the water right at the slip.