A recent survey run by Cork City Council found that over 90% of participants rated Cork a “good” to “excellent” place to live.
With local development plans in place to accommodate population growth in the coming years, as well as housing developments, employment plans and the enhancement of local amenities, the aim is to build on this even further.
Cork City and County Councils recently unveiled their plans for their respective local authorities, setting ambitious targets in areas of housing, employment, transport, tourism and leisure.
Both councils highlighted an already growing, vibrant community in Cork city and county, and the need to provide an alternative to Dublin by ensuring Cork is a livable city and county.
With that in mind, both development plans provide for significant population and jobs growth in the coming years, ensuring Cork city and county can be places to live and work for years to come.
Housing and employment
In the first development plan since the expansion of the city, the city council highlighted the importance of delivering on the national ambitions and growth targets for Cork City, which will seek to accommodate an additional 125,000 people by 2040.
This means housing on average an additional 6,250 people and creating over 3,750 jobs per year over the next 20 years.
The council’s plan also highlighted the importance of developing a compact city with 50% of all new homes delivered within the existing built up footprint of the city, on regenerated brownfield, infill and greenfield sites.
In fact, a number of large and ambitious housing developments are already underway in the city, or are being lined up for planning applications.
In April this year, planners gave the green light for a transformative residential development that will see more than 1,000 apartments built on a prime docklands site in the city’s Marina Quarter.
In recent weeks, it was revealed that planning permission is being sought for the construction of over 200 apartments on a site adjacent to Telus International, formerly Voxpro, in Mahon.
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that the first of 266 new homes which have been approved for the landmark St Kevin’s hospital site on the northside of the city should be available within two years.
Cork County Council’s development plan meanwhile provides a vision for towns, villages and rural areas across the county over the next seven years.
It is estimated that the population of Cork county in 2019 was around 332,015 with further growth expected in the period up to 2022.
The county council’s plan provides for a population growth of 61,000 people across the county and the delivery of almost 30,000 housing units to cater for this.
The council stated that this population growth and necessary housing units will be delivered across the whole of Co Cork, at locations in county metropolitan Cork, the ring and county towns, key villages, villages and rural areas.
Employment was also a key part of both local authorities’ development plans, providing for tens of thousands of jobs across both Cork city and county, while also highlighting key areas of employment and investment.
The county council’s plan sets out to deliver employment-led growth by delivering 36,500 jobs in rural and urban areas with more than 2,000 hectares of employment lands identified in the region.
The council said it envisages some 18,000 of these jobs will be in the metropolitan area, 9,900 in the Greater Cork Ring area, 4,200 in the North Cork area, and 3,500 in the West Cork area.
The Cork Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP) seeks to strengthen the Cork Metropolitan area as an international location and a primary driver of economic and population growth in the region.
The MASP envisages a growth in employment of 65,000 extra jobs in the Cork Metropolitan Area.
In its development plan, the city council stated that the MASP recognises that this level of growth will require “significant investment in supporting infrastructure to deliver the houses, jobs and services”.
Metropolitan Cork will continue to be the biggest jobs market in the county and development plan policies will continue to support the growth of employment in this area.
Carrigtwohill, Little Island, Ringaskiddy, and Whitegate were identified as strategic employment locations suitable for large-scale employment development, retaining their roles as locations for Foreign Direct Investment.
Transport
Recent and ongoing transport developments, as well as many more in the pipeline, mean it is an exciting time of change for movement in Cork city and county.
The pedestrianisation of streets, introduction of new greenways, the development of key new roads and a new BusConnects system, as well as the possibility of a light rail system, are just some of the developments underway or planned across the city and county.
The aim of both Council’s, according to their plans, is to provide the people of Cork city and county, and those visiting, with a number of sustainable transport options.
In its development plan, Cork City Council highlighted the importance of the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS) 2040 which provides a basis on which to develop Cork city over the next 20 years.
CMATS envisaged a €3.5bn investment plan with investment in cycling and walking infrastructure, a €1bn light-rail system running from Ballincollig to Mahon, and for investment in bus lanes through a BusConnects programme.
The city council stated that the “development of cycle infrastructure and the delivery of infrastructure to enable substantial improvements in public transport are essential”.
It highlighted the importance of developing a sustainable transport system with a significant shift toward walking, cycling and public transport, and, where possible, enshrining this principle in all developments across the city.
People at the core of future developments
Cork City Council’s development plan is entirely built around people, with a series of new walkways, greenways and other amenities on the horizon that promise to enhance life in the southern capital.
“People are the key to successful cities,” the city council said. “Whilst providing excellent transport infrastructure and services is vital to the future of Cork, this should be secondary to ensuring that people are the priority.”
With that in mind, Cork City Council began work in April to facilitate the permanent pedestrianisation of 17 city centre streets.
The streets were temporarily pedestrianised last summer as part of the “Reimagining Cork City” programme, in order to facilitate social distancing and outdoor dining.
Following an overwhelmingly positive reaction to this initiative and a series of public consultations, it was agreed to permanently pedestrianise 17 of these streets, including Caroline St, Pembroke St, Oliver Plunkett St, Cook St, and Maylor St.
Parks in the pipeline
Meanwhile, a number of developments in terms of parks and greenways are underway with more in the pipeline or awaiting the green light.
In Blackrock/Mahon, the Marina Park phase one should be completed later this year, with plans to create an amenity five times larger than that of Fitzgerald Park.
Works to resurface, widen and install public lighting on the Blackrock Greenway began last month.
Greenway works in Cork county are also in full swing with the 22km Midleton to Youghal Greenway set to open by 2023 at cost of about €15m, with the amenity expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
Looking to the future, the Transport and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan recently highlighted Cork as having huge potential to build a range of new greenways.
Speaking as his department unveiled its budget for 2021, Mr Ryan said there were a plethora of greenway projects across Munster that would benefit the region in the coming years.
Sticking with Cork county, the local authority stated its transport policy will seek to achieve compact growth and the transition to a low carbon society, provide sustainable travel choices and enhanced connectivity. The county council also highlighted plans for liveable towns, stating that a key concept of this is that a large portion of the population may choose to walk to access most of their everyday needs within an attractive 10 minute walk or cycle of their home.
“This approach requires diverse and higher density residential development and requires safe, inclusive and attractive pedestrian connections,” the council stated.
There is a focus in the county’s plan on ensuring towns and villages are places “where people choose to live, work and visit by making our towns and villages more attractive, vibrant and liveable places”.
With regards to enhanced connectivity, Cork County Council highlighted the importance of diversity and innovativeness in rural areas, and supporting that by providing high-quality broadband and mobile communication services to all rural locations.
The council also earmarked the supply of water and wastewater facilities for the growth of settlements, sustainable energy supply, enhanced transport connectivity including rural public transport services and greenway walking and pedestrian corridors between settlements in the county.
Tourism and Leisure
Tourism and leisure were also earmarked by both local authorities in their respective plans as Cork looks to begin its recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In its development plan, Cork County Council highlighted the need of furthering tourism attractions in West Cork, as well as the need for a tourism strategy in the north of the county.
The council said its tourism department has already made progress on a number of initiatives including the redevelopment of beaches, the development of Spike Island and Camden as major tourist attractions, the success of the ‘Pure Cork’ initiative and through supporting festivals and events across the county.
Meanwhile, in the city, plans are already underway to pedestrianise a number of key streets in a bid to increase footfall and revitalise the city centre.
The city council highlighted the importance of promoting and supporting tourism while developing strategic heritage and cultural assets and ensuring that Cork International Airport can become a gateway for business and tourism through transatlantic flights routes, proximity to London and continental Europe.
Tourism is sure to play an important role in Cork and Ireland’s recovery from the economic impacts of Covid-19.
With the Wild Atlantic Way at our doorstep, greenways in development or already open, and a wave of attractions across the city and county, there is plenty to see and do for those living here and those just passing through.