Representatives from the national media as well as regional and local journalists have been invited to a press conference to be held at the Clarion Hotel today (Thursday) where plans for the development which will kick start the Docklands regeneration will be unveiled.

The announcement by Howard Holdings will detail the planning application that the company will submit to Cork City Council by the end of this week. A spokesperson for Howard Holdings told the Cork Independent that the application will be the biggest ever seen in Cork and will help kick-start the regeneration of the whole Docklands area.

The spokesperson added that they hope that planning permission will be granted soon and that the project can go to construction soon afterwards. Howard Holdings director Greg Coughlan has previously said that the plan will be “like a mini city” and is likely to include some of the tallest buildings in Cork up to 20 storeys high.

Meanwhile the Director of Services at Cork City Council’s special Docklands Directorate, Pat Ledwidge told the Cork Independent that the Council are still waiting to hear whether their request for €90 million in government funding for the Docklands will be granted.

Cork City Council applied for the funding under the National Spatial Strategy’s Gateway Innovation Fund (GIF). The city council is seeking €60 million in funding for a new bridge across the River Lee to improve access to the Docklands and E30 million to help facilitate the relocation of the Port of Cork to Cork Harbour. In both cases the council will provide a further E20 million of funding.

The city council are also still waiting to hear if any tax incentives will be made available by government to stimulate further developments in the Docklands. Finance Minister Brian Cowen has already indicated that he believes there may be issues with such a move under European law.

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