Third round of public consultation sought on Cork BusConnects proposals

CORK City Council is to write to the National Transport Authority (NTA) seeking a third round of public consultation on the proposed sustainable transport corridors (STCs) for the city, with one councillor saying that there is “one shot” to get this major infrastructure project right.

At a council meeting on Monday, councillors unanimously agreed with a motion tabled by Labour Party councillor John Maher.

The motion asked that the council would facilitate a third round of public consultation of BusConnects with the NTA, and extend the current consultation to such a time when traffic data and modelling are published “to allow all submissions take account of real-time traffic flows”.

Speaking to The Echo after the meeting, Mr Maher said the “true impact” the proposals will have on communities cannot be fully understood until traffic data is published.

He also said the public needs more time to digest the proposals: “It’s irresponsible of us not to accept that, whether we like it or not, some people are only waking up to the fact now that BusConnects is going to have a big implication on them.”

The current round of public consultation centres on the preferred routes, and follows an initial public consultation last year.

The proposed STCs, of which there are now 11, will deliver 91km of new bus lanes and bus priority and 96km of cycling infrastructure.

Following the first round of consultation, changes have been made to all of the STCs. “As a result of fixing other communities problems, there’s a knock-on effect,” said Mr Maher.

“I just believe that we need to get this right. I’m a supporter of Bus Connects but we have one shot at it so let’s take the extra bit of time now to get it right,” he said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon said he believes it is “vitally important” that a further round of public consultation takes place.

Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent said a third round of consultation would be worthwhile. Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy said “colossal changes” have been made to the initial proposals and, while he welcomed the proposed reduction of land-take in some areas, he said he believes some issues persist.

Green Party councillor Dan Boyle said that some STCs have proved “uncontentious” and in these cases, he said the council should be suggesting that the process should “advance where it can advance as quickly as possible”.

Mr Maher told The Echo he would be in full support of this.