Cork’s population is set to grow across the city and county over the coming years, and national plans have focused on making the Rebel County a viable alternative to Dublin with plans for investment, jobs growth, housing developments and amenity enhancements all to the fore.
With government plans to address housing deficits and provide employment opportunities, invest in and upgrade the Port of Cork, increase health facilities and services, and expand educational institutes in Cork, the aim is to build a brighter future for the region.
The National Planning Framework, or Project Ireland 2040, has set out a number of targets and projects for Cork to achieve to ensure it is ready to deal with Ireland’s predicted population growth, with 1m more people expected in the country over the next 20 years or so.
The initiatives and developments set out in the framework seek to make Cork a great place to live and work, with national sights set on housing, jobs, sustainable development and transport as well as key growth enablers, including greenfield developments, education enhancements and increased connectivity.
In fact, the framework states that it supports “ambitious growth targets” to enable Cork to grow by at least 50% to 2040.
The Government’s plan stated that building on Cork’s potential is critical to further enhancing Ireland’s metropolitan profile.
“This requires an ambitious vision for Cork, at the heart of which must be an internationally competitive, sustainable urban environment,” the framework stated.
“This means providing housing, transport, amenities and energy systems in a best practice European context.”
Cork Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan
A major part of the NPF is the Southern Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) which includes the Cork Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP).
The MASP builds upon the ambitious growth targets for Cork set out in the NPF and seeks to strengthen the Cork Metropolitan area as an international location of scale, and a primary driver of economic and population growth in the region.
The MASP envisages Cork city to grow from around 210,000 people in 2016 to a total of 289,000 people in Cork city by 2031, requiring a growth in employment of 65,000 extra jobs in the Cork Metropolitan Area.
The MASP recognises that this level of growth will require significant investment in supporting infrastructure to deliver the houses, jobs and services.
The National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027, a major part of the NPF, sets out to support the achievement of more balanced development of Ireland’s three regions: North, West and South.
The NDP states that the success of Ireland’s main cities, including Cork, is “central to the success of these regions”.
The National Planning Framework highlights the government plans to ensure that at least half of all new homes that are targeted in Cork are delivered within the existing built-up footprints of the city.
The framework also highlighted the importance of growing and diversifying Cork’s employment base in the years to come.
“This means creating the conditions to attract and retain talented innovators and entrepreneurs and to be accessible to investors,” the framework explained.
The recent local development plans for Cork indicated that 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 in the plans, retaining their roles as locations for Foreign Direct Investment.
The National Planning Framework highlighted the importance of this, stating that the Industrial Development Authority’s (IDA) investment in strategic sites to date has yielded significant projects that would not have been possible unless such sites were available for investors.
“It is also evidenced by the clustering of companies in locations such as Ringaskiddy in Cork,” the framework added.
Speaking earlier this year, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar explained that the IDA plans for 2021 were written with continued disruption from Covid-19 and Brexit in mind.
However, he added that around half of all investment made by FDI companies in 2020 went to counties outside of Dublin.
“We will continue to seek out opportunities for all parts of the country, not just our major cities and towns,” he stated.
Cork Docklands
The Government has highlighted a number of key future growth enablers for Cork, including major plans for the Cork docklands, aimed at delivering ambitious large-scale regeneration projects for the provision of new employment, housing and supporting infrastructure in the area.
A number of developments are already underway at the docks and surrounding areas.
The Port of Cork has invested around €90m in the redevelopment of its existing port facilities at Ringaskiddy to accommodate larger sea-going vessels and increase capacity.
The National Development Plan highlighted the importance of strengthening access routes to Ireland’s ports through investment to upgrade and enhance the road transport network to improve journey times.
In this regard, the Government highlighted the importance of the planned N28 Cork to Ringaskiddy Road in terms of improving access to the Port of Cork.
Sustainable development and transport
Sustainable development and new transport infrastructure have been earmarked to make Cork a liveable city and county.
Sustainable development on greenfield areas was highlighted as a key growth enabler for Cork, especially in areas on public transport corridors such as Monard.
The NPF also indicated the importance of identifying infill and regeneration opportunities to intensify housing in city and suburban areas, with Cork City Council indicating a desire to do this in its own development plan for the area.
Transport was also identified as a key area of much-needed improvement in Cork with the government highlighting the need for “a much enhanced citywide public transport system”.
This system will incorporate an east-west corridor from Mahon to Ballincollig and a north-south corridor with a link to Cork Airport.
Government plans also highlighted the importance of progressing the Dunkettle Interchange upgrades and of ensuring improved access to Ringaskiddy Port.
The Government also indicated plans to improve traffic flow in Cork City by improving public transport and/or upgrading the N40.
Looking outward, the government highlighted the importance of improved rail journey times between Cork and Dublin, and of providing better onward direct connections from Cork.
The Government added that there is further potential to develop the existing good quality rail links between Dublin and Belfast and Cork into an island rail spine through line speed and service enhancements.
It also highlighted the importance of increased connectivity between Cork and Limerick firstly and other cities, stating better accessibility between cities will “enable unrealised potential to be activated as well as better preparing for potential impacts from Brexit”.
Health and education
As well as housing development, port investments and transport enhancements, the government has set targets in the areas of health and education for Cork over the coming years.
The NPF indicates plans to develop a new science and innovation park to the west of the city, accessible by public transport, while it also highlights the continued expansion of third level institutions in the city.
Over the 10-year period of the National Development Plan, the seven existing universities plan to deliver projects involving a total investment of over €3bn.
University College Cork has already established its new business school and there are further plans for increased student accommodation, ICT services and a new dental hospital.
There are also plans to upgrade the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, with the government stating: “We will also upgrade and expand the Tyndall National Institute in Cork to stay at the forefront of new technologies and build on its successful industry engagement model in sectors such as health and life sciences, ICT, energy and agri-tech.” In the area of healthcare, two new hospitals have been earmarked for Cork, including one elective-only hospital to provide elective surgeries and outpatient services in a bid to tackle waiting lists.
A new ambulance base is also to be set up in Cork while there are also plans to introduce a National Programme for Radiation Oncology at Cork, Galway and Dublin.
Flooding and water management
The Government also highlighted plans to ensure that water supply and wastewater needs are met by new national projects to enhance Cork’s water supply and increase wastewater treatment capacity.
The National Development Plan allocated €430m for flood mitigation initiatives between 2016 and 2021, to support the development of eight flood relief schemes currently under construction and a further 26 at planning stages.
In Cork, these include the development of the Lower Lee, Skibbereen and Bandon relief schemes, which are all under construction or completed, as well as the Clonakilty scheme which remains at pre-construction stage.
Meanwhile, the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Project, which will significantly enhance the water quality in Cork harbour, is due to be completed by the end of the year.
This means 20,000 homes and businesses in the areas of Ringaskiddy, Crosshaven, Carrigaline, Passage, Monkstown, and Cobh connected to the new scheme, ensuring that raw sewage from these areas will no longer be discharged into the harbour.
The government highlighted the project as important in terms of protecting the environment, facilitating economic development and providing for a growing population.
Tourism and culture
The government also indicated the important role that tourism and culture will play in the future of Cork.
Similar to the city council’s plan, the National Development Plan highlighted Cork Airport as a key tourism and business gateway for the region.
The plan also highlighted important cultural investments in the region, including the Crawford Art Gallery, which is currently undergoing upgrade works to the tune of €22m.
The National Planning Framework also highlighted the importance of the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund in ensuring that rural parts of Cork can capitalise on quality of life and sectoral strengths such as agri-food, energy, tourism and the marine, and to incentivise town and village renewal.
With national frameworks and local development plans afoot for Cork, the region could see significant investment and development in the years to come.