Councillors approve draft of Cork county development plan

COUNCILLORS yesterday approved a draft of the Cork county development plan following a lengthy blended meeting of Cork County Council.

The plan, which consists of thousands of pages, is the result of 64 formal meetings held between representatives and council executives, and will go to public consultation from January 18 to February 15, 2022.

The councillors took time to debate 12 amendments to the draft county development plan, 10 of which were approved and will now go for consideration in the draft plan at the public consultation stage.

Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Hayes sought a zoning amendment for the Mallow area on a site at the entrance to the town from the Limerick side. He requested the site be returned to commercial zoning. The motion, along with nine others which were passed, will now be considered in the draft plan.

Fianna Fáil councillor William O’Leary put forward an amendment for Coolagown to keep village status after it was demoted in the county development plan.

Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn sought to have a piece of land at Corrin, Fermoy, off the M8, rezoned for industry, and Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre O’Brien asked the council to consider rezoning land in Gortnahown, Mitchelstown, for a civic amenity centre.

Independent councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy looked for land rezoning in Bantry to expand a nursing home, and Fianna Fáil councillor Ian Doyle asked for land rezoning to build a nursing home facility in Charleville.

A site in Midleton designated as a residential reserve was the subject of debate, with councillors voting for it to go to consultation as a greenbelt site.

Fine Gael councillor Kay Dawson requested that a 15-hectare site be rezoned for commercial use to facilitate an NCT site. The chief executive said there was no need for a site of that size to be zoned for a single centre and a special function was utilised to earmark a small piece for an NCT site, to be considered during public consultation.

Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty had called for an amendment to see medium-density residential zoning at Woodstock, Carrigtwohill. Cobh municipal district joined forces to vote down the idea. 

Independent councillor Ben Dalton O’Sullivan withdrew his motion for Lowertown to be listed as a village nucleus entity. 

Following submissions from members of the public, the draft plan will go before councillors in April to be considered.