Opportunity for a Property Developer
Posted on July 22, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
Now that’s a phrase you didn’t expect to hear in the current economic climate.
One of the reasons we settled on Bandon when we moved to Cork was the classic location, location, location. It really is ideally situated in Munster for access to almost everything - Cork City, Airport, beaches, businesses, school, sports facilities etc etc.
However, this prime location is missing something critical - somewhere people can meet in a modern business context. Whether it’s for seminars, conferences, training or bigger community events, we have nothing. There are many organisations (state, semi-state and private enterprise), who would kill for a venue where people from all corners of Munster, Ireland and Europe could meet and get to easily.
The beneficial knock-on effects to other local businesses of having a regular stream of visitors are obvious. At the moment, all that business traffic goes to the city, Clon, Skibb, Kinsale and elsewhere.
So there you have it. If you are someone who has spent a fortune on property in the area over the last ten years and/or if you are sitting on assets you won’t be able to shift until 2010 at the earliest, here’s a way to generate immediate regular cash and provide a major boost to the town.
The Munster Conference Centre, Bandon: Which of you is up for it?
6 Replies to "Opportunity for a Property Developer"
Conor O'Neill on July 23, 2008
Apart from some stickiness in Innishannon at rush hour, you can get from airport to Bandon in 25 minutes. That beats Excel and all the other London ones hands-down. Faster than Dublin Airport to Croker too.
The centre could also kick-start more international flights into Cork, including the much needed NY, Newark or Boston.
All that land on Glasslyn sitting idle, losing value. A conference centre on the water, it could be awesome!
JD on July 25, 2008
They would have to pay the boy-racers to leave the town during any potential conference!! As I type there appears to be a circuit of the Kilbrogan Hill area by noisy motors…
Conor O'Neill on July 31, 2008
Sorry for the delay in replying to these comments. All of the notifications ended up in my spam folder! I’ve also just moved it to Blacknight today and so far it is working well.
Boy Racer thing seems to have gone nuts recently. The amount of burnt rubber from Bishopstown to Bandon is unbelievable.
Just read in Bandon Opinion that the Glasslyn sites are going to be used for a multi-amenity centre (pitches etc). Brilliant idea and perfect location.
Catherine on September 16, 2008
I heartily agree that we desperately need a decent modern conference centre in Bandon with ample parking - flexible in size as one of the previous posts suggested so that it can accommodate small and large groups. There are endless societies, businesses etc crying out for such a venue.
I am guessing that there will still be room on the County Council glasslyn site even once the pitches are in place.
Conor O'Neill on September 16, 2008
It’s the ideal location really since it keeps the extra motor traffic out of the town but potentially adds tons of foot traffic for the local businesses.
Phoebe Bright on July 23, 2008
I second that and what I would really like to see if a conference centre that was designed to have remote attendees. As it gets more and more expensive to travel, attending overseas or even Dublin based conferences gets less affordable. Imagine being able say you can hold a worldwide conference in Bandon! The centre would have to be very flexible in terms of layout - be easy to break up into rooms for group conversations with a mix of live and remote people attending via top quality video conference. Live streaming to the internet from multiple cameras…….