Minister tells Cork City Council to change development plan after regulator flags concerns

Cork City Council is “engaging in a consultation process” after receiving a draft direction from a government minister to change its new city development plan, which came into effect yesterday.

Minister for Local Government and Planning Peter Burke has issued a draft direction to Cork City Council under section 31 of the Planning and Development Act, which allows the minister to direct a local authority to change its development plan, where they feel it “fails to set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

It follows criticism from the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR), relating to a joint retail strategy with Cork County Council, and land zoning for residential housing and schools.

The OPR, an independent planning watchdog that monitors local authorities, wrote to the minister last month, recommending that he direct Cork City Council to change its newest development plans.

In its letter, the OPR said that Cork City Council’s plan “fails to set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area concerned” and an intervention by the minister would be “merited”.

The first issue highlighted by the OPR is that Cork City Council failed to prepare a joint retail strategy with Cork County Council, in accordance with national retail planning guidelines.

It recommended the Cork City Development Plan be amended to mandate the completion of a Joint Retail strategy within a year of the City and County development plans being adopted.

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The OPR also recommended changes to the Development Plan regarding zoning of land for housing.

While reviewing the draft of the City Development Plan earlier this year, city councillors voted through a number of amendments to the plan, which rezoned land for residential use across areas in Glanmire, Upper Glanmire, Kilcully, Castletreasure, and Carrigrohane.

The OPR has said the rezoning of these lands “does not support compact growth and sequential development, and objectives to promote sustainable settlement and transport strategies” in Cork City.

The OPR highlighted issues with rezoning land for housing that is on the periphery or outskirts of existing settlements. This could cause car dependency, being remote from public transport or active travel infrastructure, or a definable urban centre.

The OPR said this could also undermine the redevelopment of existing sites closer to city and urban town centres that could provide for private, social, and affordable housing. It also said the rezoning provides land “significantly in excess of that which can reasonably be considered to be required to provide for [Cork’s] housing supply target”.

Thirdly, the OPR criticised an amendment rezoning an area near the Docklands from “education” to “mixed use development”, and other amendments that rezoned areas earmarked for sports and recreational facilities. The OPR recommended the Minister direct certain land zoning objectives to be changed back, before any amendments were made.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said that “Cork City Council will be engaging in a consultation process in light of the OPR’s recommendation”.

The Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage said that a statutory process must now take place, “at the end of which the regulator makes a final recommendation, and the Minister may then decide whether to issue a final direction”.