Water buses to take people to work across Cork harbour are to be a feature of the new port development. In what is said to be the most ambitious project undertaken in an Irish commercial port, £300 million is to be invested in a public-private partnership.
The overall concept is to prepare the port, one of the most successful in the Republic, for direct links with the US and to create a platform for the growth in new container and Ro-Ro business which is anticipated over the next two decades.
The Port of Cork authorities have pledged that the project will be environmentally driven, and that at each stage of implementation the plan will be first tested in the public domain and subject to scrutiny, including environmental impact statements.
For the first time, consideration is being given to creating a water transportation system in Cork that would remove the need for huge numbers of people to commute to work by road each day, and instead offer the opportunity to use water buses which would travel regularly from the harbour area to the city centre.
A similar plan is about to come into operation in Northern Ireland next September, when the Carlingford-Bangor area will be linked by water transport to Belfast.
The Cork project, which is at an advanced stage of planning, will run in tandem with a complete revamp of the docks area in Cork and will become part of the Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP) over the next two decades.
It holds out the prospect of transforming one of Europe's great natural harbours into an even more potent force in the economic life of the southern region.
The integrated plan will lead to key areas in the harbour being targeted for new development and growth, creating investment opportunities which are expected to attract a major response from the private sector.
International consultants Posford Duvivier have been appointed to oversee a Strategic Development Study of the port area, in the process consulting with all the stakeholders, including business, heritage/cultural/tourism and environmental interests.
The technical phase of the study is now under way and is expected to be completed by October. It will examine various locations in the harbour for projected growth.
They include: Curlane Bank (container berths); Oyster Bank (multi-purpose Ro-Ro berths); Ringaskiddy Basin (Ro-Ro); Marino Point (bulk berths/Ro-Ro) and Dunkettle - a logistical support base for Tivoli-based activities.
The plan would transform the port, which is now trading at record levels, much in the same way as its predecessor, the 1972, Cork Harbour Development Plan, did. The tunnel crossing of the River Lee was first proposed in this plan and is now regarded as a vital and successful part of Cork's infrastructure.
Ranked as Ireland's second port, capital investment in Cork during the past 10 years has amounted to £50 million.
Despite huge volumes of traffic in the past two years, the 1998 Baxter Eadie report on Irish ports, commissioned by the Government, concluded that by 2007 there would be a serious capacity deficit in the Port of Cork.
According to the port authorities, the Posford Duvivier study will address this issue and lay the groundwork for a port and harbour area that will be able to cope with expansion up to 2020.
As the overall Cork Area Strategic Plan for the city and its sub-region begins to take effect, the harbour area and the Lee will figure prominently as centres of recreation and leisure close to a city which will itself be expanding.
A new city centre, with increased inner city living space, new commuter rail links to and from the city, a self-contained settlement in the Monard-Rathpeacon area, and a significant increase in the population of the region over the next two decades, are now being planned for by the joint local authorities in Cork.
They are looking to the harbour as an amenity area that will become an increasing tourist attraction in the years ahead and a foil to city life which can offer attractive facilities in the bay as well as clean bathing and high water quality.
The proposed port plan will have significant environmental implications, involving, for instance, major land reclamation and pipe laying, and it is clear that port expansion will only be a popular success if it can be delivered without damaging the environment or the eco-balance in the harbour.
Last year, the Port of Cork handled total traffic of 10.14 million tonnes including exports of 3.87 million tonnes and imports of 6.27 million. Income for the year was £13.12 million and profits of £3.8 million were posted.
The port has net assets of almost £70.12 million and borrowings of only £4 million, making it an extremely lean and efficient operator.
Since the mid-1980s, the labour force has been cut by 50 per cent to 120 people. Part of the present plan is expected to include Ireland's first deep-sea container terminal which would create direct trade links between Ireland and the US.
At present, US-bound container traffic must go eastwards to one of the major European ports before it can be shipped to the US. Direct links to such a huge market would position Cork ideally against growing competition from European ports, says Sean Geary, Port of Cork marketing manager.
Curlane Bank, south of Spike Island, would be the operations base for this element of the new port plan.
Oyster Bank, north of Ringaskiddy, would become the location for multi-purpose Ro-Ro berths and the Ringaskiddy basin, the only deep-sea Ro-Ro terminal in Ireland at present, which now handles traffic from the Grimaldi European Mediterranean Line, part of the ACL Ro-Ro group, would become a major centre of traffic from the eastern Mediterranean ports.
The opening up of direct links to the eastern Mediterranean would have significant implications for the reduction of large truck movements through Europe to Ireland and the UK, Mr Geary adds.
A UCC/KPMG study of the economic impact of the port on the region has shown that in 1999, the total direct contribution of all port activities provided expenditure of £224 million and some 3,580 full-time equivalent jobs. The value of exports, at £11.7 billion, supported 70,400 full-time equivalent jobs, while the value of imports, £5.9 billion, supported 42,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
This would be the biggest development project undertaken in an Irish port. While the concept is driven by the present management of the Port of Cork Company, whose general manager, Pat Keenan, retires this week, the port may be in new ownership by the time it is completed.
Privatisation of the ports is still being considered by the Government and there are signs that it is becoming an increasingly attractive option.