County Cork planning for post-Covid future

Cork County Council held a special meeting last week to finalise amendments to the draft County Development Plan (CDP) before public consultation begins later this month.

The CDP is a key document that will shape the development of the county in the future.

The meeting took place last Thursday and saw eight elected members bring motions before the council for consideration.

The draft plan is set to be published for public consultation on 22 April after which Chief Executive Tim Lucey will begin preparing a report on all submissions received from the public.

Among the motions discussed were the following:

Remote working hubs

Coinciding with the Government’s announcement of a pilot scheme that would see pubs and vacant buildings around rural Ireland become remote working hubs, Fianna Fáil Cllr for Bandon and Kinsale Gillian Coughlan asked that the council fully support the scheme through the CDP.

Cllr Coughlan said the establishment of such facilities would be a “win-win” for the people of Cork bringing with it numerous benefits in health, economy and environment. “I think these remote working hubs in towns could really work well for the people who don't want to work from home necessarily, but who don't want to drive to an office which may be 30 or 40 miles away every day,” said Cllr Coughlan.

With the CDP not set to be adopted until 2022, Fianna Fáil Cllr Frank O’Flynn asked that this particular issue be fast-tracked in order to bring new life to towns and villages.

“This will come in the policy in 2022. What's going to happen in the meantime? Can businesses and communities wait until 2022? As a council, we need to answer the needs of future businesses. This is the pathway to the future,” said Cllr O’Flynn.

Independent living

Fianna Fáil Cllr for Mallow and Kanturk Ian Doyle’s motion asked that plans for zoned lands specifically for independent living for senior citizens be included in the CDP. He also asked for increased numbers of sheltered housing clusters in towns and villages.

“The reason for this motion is that up to now much of our concentration on our elderly population has been on nursing type units. If this pandemic has thought us nothing else, it's the need for sheltered housing,” said Cllr Doyle.

Support for new businesses

Fianna Fáil Cllr for Carrigaline Seamus McGrath’s motion asked that the CDP would fully support new businesses as well as business expansion proposals and employment creation.

The councillor said that while town and village centre revitalisation is critical, many businesses require large sites and often need to be located outside development boundaries. He asked that a general provision be made in the plan to acknowledge the need to accommodate such proposals on a case by case basis.

Public walkways

The meeting’s fifth motion was brought by Fianna Fáil Cllr for Carrigaline Audrey Buckley who said the plan must protect Cork county’s public walkways. “I think this is important, especially with Covid; we have so many walkers and beautiful walks here, it would be a massive shame to see some of these close in 2022,” said Cllr Buckley. Cllr Buckley also asked that the council raise awareness amongst Cork county’s population around the need to officially register their local walkways in order to ensure their protection.

Belvelly Bridge

Fine Gael Cllr for Cobh Sinead Sheppard asked that the council ensures the historic Belvelly Bridge, which was built around 1803, is listed on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS).

Cllr Sheppard said the bridge and nearby castle is a known landmark and that the architect Abraham Hargrave has 24 additional heritage buildings and monuments accredited to him in Cork.

Fellow Cobh native, Labour Cllr Cathal Rasmussen added: “This bridge is of huge historical significance. It's probably one of the most talked about bridges not only in the county, but in the whole country.”

Green belt area

Independent Cllr for West Cork Declan Hurley brought a sixth motion before the council asking that a green belt area along the existing development boundary to the south-west of Dunmanway town be included in the CDP. The councillor said this inclusion would provide a realistic alternative to building individual houses in the countryside for better deliverability, accessibility and consolidation.

Density levels

The seventh motion was brought by Fianna Fáil Cllr for West Cork Deirdre Kelly looking to ensure that appropriate density levels are zoned within the local area plan (LAP) for the various different settlement types throughout the county. Cllr Kelly said this must reflect the type and scale of development that is in demand in these locations.

Zoning and planning permission

Finally, Fianna Fáil Cllr for West Cork Patrick Gerard Murphy asked that a clear statement of review process is written into the CDP to ensure that sufficient land is available for each of the county’s settlement profiles including greater metropolitan area, towns and villages.

Cllr Murphy said much of Cork’s land has been de-zoned or transferred to the new agricultural zoning, reducing the headroom and limiting the potential planning options available.

“The plan has to be adaptable as some zoned land may not be developable during the lifetime of the plan due to planning considerations, availability, and access issues. In these instances there has to be a clear process to zone or grant planning permission on alternative lands to satisfy demand and population targets,” said Cllr Murphy.