Hitch in plan for new coast guard station in Kilmore Quay
PLANS FOR a new coast guard station in Kilmore Quay, on which construction was expected to commence this year, have stalled with no explanation given for the delay.
Kilmore Quay Coast Guard and the Office of Public Works had been carrying out various background works with a view to building a new station on a site close to their current base but it is understood that the station received a one-line email last week saying that work would not go ahead at this location.
Kilmore Quay Coast Guard serves a large stretch of coastline. It has 15 volunteers who are on call 24/7, 365 days a year. At present, their station does not have running water, toilet facilities or changing facilities.
Mayor of Wexford, Cllr Jim Moore, who is from Kilmore Quay, said there was a lot of frustration over this development as a new station was something that had been on the cards for nearly a decade.
‘Kilmore Quay has been on list for the past eight years. I met the OPW and coast guard in 2013 and, at that stage, they were looking at sites. This site was the second location they looked at. But then, a new stream of funding was made available and Kilmore was pushed down the list in favour of other stations.’
Cllr Moore believes that the issue may have something to do with land registration but he stressed that this would not be insurmountable as the council could go down the route of issuing a compulsory purchase order.
‘The site is in a perfect location; structurally, there’s no reason why the station couldn’t go there and that’s what makes me think that something cropped up in land registry. It’s not a funding issue so I think this is a delay to the project rather than bringing it to a standstill.’
He added that there would be a couple of other options and alternative sites and, while opting for another location would delay the project, he hoped it would for a few months rather than the year or more that the CPO process might take.
He said he did not have a problem with any site, provided that the facility was up to the standard required to run the coast guard service efficiently. He added that the plans for the proposed site had been very impressive, taking the various sensibilities of the area into account in the building’s design.
‘It’s a very busy location that covers a very important section of coastline. A proper station is long overdue. Five years ago, we thought everything was full steam ahead but then the coast guard shifted the focus and this is what we have now.’
Cllr George Lawlor also voiced his concern over the development saying that a new station was a vital piece of infrastructure for Kilmore Quay and that section of coastline.
He remarked: ‘Wexford County Council has an excellent track record in supporting community organisations as regards the supply of land, where possible, and I would hope that that will continue to be the case here.’
In a statement, Wexford County Council said it was extremely supportive of the proposal to improve coast guard facilities at Kilmore Quay, complimenting the professional and vital service the group provides, and saying they welcomed any proposal to improve and additionally resource the valued service.
The council said they had ‘recently engaged with the OPW with a view to identifying a suitable site for the proposed re-development of the Kilmore Coast Guard service’, saying the discussions had been ‘very positive’ and they were confident that, upon conclusion, the redevelopment would proceed at at an early date.
However, the council made no reference to the specific parcel of land or the concerns over the latest development, stating instead that they were in the process of ‘preparing ambitious plans for the further development of Kilmore Quay, capitalising on the area’s strong track record in fish processing and marine industry generally, and also recognising its growing tourism potential’.