Plans for 20,000 homes and 31,000 jobs in Cork city

A draft Cork City Development Plan aims to build 20,000 homes and create 31,000 jobs by 2028.

This is the first development plan since Cork city had a boundary extension in 2019. It is hoped it will guide the city towards ambitious population growth targets. Under Ireland 2040, Cork is expected to see a population growth of 55 per cent – an additional 115,000 people.

The plan, published yesterday, aims to accommodate an additional 3,500 people in the city centre by 2028, a growth of 15 per cent from the Census 2012 baseline figure of 22,732. This is to be achieved by “a combination of new build and reuse of the existing built fabric”.

Cork City Council chief executive, Ann Doherty, said "Our City, Our Future" was a transformative blueprint which would lead to the creation of a "15-minute city", where services and facilities are available in local neighbourhoods.

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“A lot of Cork meets the concept of the 15-minute city already in terms of adjacency to service and the fact that employment is spread across the city. It is not just concentrated in one part of the city. We have a lot of the beginnings of the concept in place.

“Transport will be key to making it work. Obviously having good public transport will influence how people live. It is not about having all the services on your doorstep. For example, you won’t have an acute hospital in every 15-minute neighbourhood. It it is about having real good connectivity in to the heart of the city,” she added.

Ms Doherty said the plan was the first local policy-based expression of the ambition for Cork contained in Project Ireland 2040 and the National Planning Framework. It follows widespread engagement with stakeholders in the first round of public consultation.

“This draft plan is being published at a time of unprecedented opportunity. Cork City has up to €1.8 billion in ringfenced central government funding and up to €3.5 billion earmarked for the city over 20 years as part of the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS).

“There is a visible confidence in our city as evidenced by planned landmark projects such as the €46 million Grand Parade Quarter, which is going through public consultation at present, and the Cork City Docklands, a scheme of international significance that, as Ireland’s largest regeneration project has already received €355 million from the Government’s urban regeneration and development fund.”

Light rail

Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Colm Kelleher urged the public to engage with and provide feedback on the plan. "It is imperative that every citizen in the city has the opportunity to have their say on the plan which will shape or city for years to come," he said.

This was the first of a series of important city developments plans for Cork, he said. “It is the first of three such plans that will provide a pathway to achieving a 50 per cent increase in population by 2040 so that Cork grows as a city of international scale”.

“This plan aims to ensure that as our population increases substantially, we become an even better place to live. It is centred around supporting housing, economic development, public realm renewal, transport, more amenity spaces and community services in existing built-up areas, using the internationally-recognised 15-minute city model.”

Cllr Kelleher says that under the 20-year CMATS plan, light rail is proposed to go from Ballincollig in the county to Mahon in the city.

Public consultation on the plan will extend over the next eight weeks. The plan can be viewed at corkcitydevelopmentplan.ie and the public can give their input at https://consult.corkcity.ie/