Cork city set for six ‘mobility hubs’

A series of new mobility hubs, which will consist of electric vehicle (EV) charge points, two car-sharing parking bays, wheelchair-accessible footpaths, and associated signage were approved at the latest meeting of Cork City Council.

They form part of a National Mobility Hubs Pilot Programme which is being run across three locations nationally - Dublin, Cork, Sligo, Carlow, and Dundalk.

Six hubs will be developed at the plan’s current phase, with a separate planning process required to develop six further sites.

The developments will be at Lapp’s Quay, Victoria Cross, Mardyke Walk, South Mall, Popes Quay, and Glasheen Road/Hartland’s Avenue.

Further developments will take place at Blackpool Shopping Centre, Kent Station, MTU Bishopstown, Wilton Shopping Centre, and the Lower Pouladuff Road.

The hubs will take the place of public parking spots currently at these locations. A report by Cork City Council said that it expected no trees to be removed as part of the development.

A public consultation on the scheme ran from Friday 27 March until Friday 24 April, and received seven submissions.

Labour Party councillor Ciara O’Connor said the hubs were “exactly the kind of innovative thinking we need if we’re serious about tackling congestion, improving air quality, and meeting our climate targets”.

“If we want to see a shift away from private transport, we need to make sustainable transport options accessible and attractive,” she said.

However, Sinn Féin Cllr Joe Lynch has said that he voted against the hubs because they are “a waste of time, space, and money”.

“In essence, the National Transport Authority is planning to remove what are presently public parking spaces - which generate revenue for this city; that will be foregone - to install EV parking spaces, using public funds - and to then hand these over to a private operator to profit from.”

He continued: “There are already car share operators in this city and there is nothing stopping them from installing EV infrastructure should they wish. The funding of these so-called ‘mobility hubs’ might be coming from national government, but it is public money, and Cork City Council should not be rubber-stamping bad ideas,” he said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.