Irish government ministers and Limerick city and county council have launched an ambitious plan to transform Limerick’s economy and reinvigorate its city centre over the next 15 years.
The €250m (£215m) plan, entitled Limerick 2030 – An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick, was developed by GVA in partnership with Aecom and Thinking Place.
It is structured around three main elements; an economic strategy, a spatial strategy and a marketing plan, setting out initiatives including:
• Supporting innovation, enterprise and start-ups
• Capitalising on the city’s three higher education institutions, ICT and digital assets and technology-based economy
• A renaissance of Limerick’s waterfront and the creation of an iconic destination building “The Limerick Cultural Centre”
• “Greet streets” – the transformation of the three main streets; O’Connell St, Catherine St and Henry St.
• A new city square/plaza to define the heart of the city
• A city centre higher education campus
• Restoration of the Georgian Quarter
• Renewal of Colbert Station, creating better links with city centre facilities through a new public transport interchange
• Profiling Limerick as alive with industrious and academic energy while highlighting its rich industrial, historical heritage.
GVA senior director Gerry Hughes said: “This is a hugely exciting time for Limerick. It is a time of positive change – a new local government structure that unites the city, recognition by government of the city’s potential, and now an integrated economic and spatial plan to drive and guide investment. We have identified a number of key projects that will fundamentally change the economic fortunes of Limerick for the better. The next challenge is delivery.”
Limerick 2030 will form part of the Limerick city and county development plans and will be subject to public consultation.
It is part of a wider, more ambitious €750m Limerick Project to deliver improved economic infrastructure including new tertiary educational facilities, new port facilities along the Shannon Estuary, and new infrastructure at Shannon International Airport over the next two decades.
samantha.mcclary@estatesgazette.com
