Development of the brewery site
Transfer of ownership of the Brewery site from Diageo to Kilkenny County Council presents a unique opportunity development opportuinity to the city of Kilkenny, indeed to the entire country. A careful, historically respectful, people and environmentally friendly design and planning response is essential. In the near term at least, use of the site will also take place in a financially constrained context. Development of the Diageo site should compliment and develop Kilkenny's existing strengths in arts, culture and heritage. The use and development Diageo site should : (1) Preserve and/or restore medieval street layouts (2) Be branded as a new urban district within the city, focused on the arts, crafts, culture and heritage sectors, and including hubs for complimentary activities such as social enterprises. (3) Include a substantial third level college presence. This should NOT be a "me too" activity ; there are already several other centres of excellence elsewhere in Ireland in domains such as information and communications technologies, bio-pharmaceuticals and the likes. The physical, historical and cultural context of the Diageo site (and of the city of Kilkenny as a whole) would make the site an ideal location for a college of performing arts, particularly one that could attract international students. (4) Reuse the existing buildings on the site to the greatest practical extent. (5) Be pedestrianised to the greatest possible extent. (6) Provide greater public access to the river bank, including providing a pedestrian/cycling link under Green's bridge to the linear park. (7) Faclitate increased amentiy use of the river, e.g. swimming and canoeing. It is my belief that these objectives can (and should) be achieved without having to procede with the proposed Central Access Scheme.
