Delays to ongoing Cork North West Quarter Regeneration project questioned

Fewer than half of 241 approved units in the Cork North West Quarter Regeneration (CNWQR) project have been completed, new government data shows.

The Cork City Northwest Quarter Regeneration (CNWQR) is a huge multi-annual, phased regeneration project which began in the Knocknaheeny and Hollyhill area more than a decade ago.

The CNWQR masterplan, adopted by the council in November 2011, involves the demolition of 450 houses and the design and construction of more than 600 new homes. However, the project has seen increasing costs and repeated delays.

Status updates 

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing provided status updates on projects that are fully approved, not including projects that are still going through the approval process.

“Responsibility for the progression of individual projects and the associated delivery timelines lie with Cork City Council,” they said.

Data shows that Phases 1B and 2A in Knocknaheeny are both complete, with 1B’s 29 units finished in Q3 of 2017 and the 47 units in 2A finished in Q4 2019.

Croppy Boy Phase 1, with 24 units, and Knocknaheeny 1C with 41 units, are both at Stage 4 Approved status, and that construction staff are onsite, with the works due to be completed in the final quarter of 2025 for both. However that date has now just passed.

There is one further phase where construction is happening onsite, Phase 2B, with 38 units, which the minister’s response says is also at Stage 4 Approved, and due to be completed in Q2, 2026.

Work started on site to deliver Phase 2B and Phase 1C in November 2022, Cork City Council previously said.

Finally, Phase 3B with 62 units is also at Stage 4 Approved , but work has not yet started, and the estimated completion date is Q2, 2027.

Concern

The data was provided to Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, on foot of a parliamentary question. Mr Gould expressed concern that the last phase to be completed was in 2019.

“The people of Knocknaheeny have been living on a building site for a decade now and there is no end in sight.

“Every single time we ask, we’re given different completion dates for projects. Phase 2B was supposed to be completed by the end of 2024. It shouldn’t take years upon years to build 38 homes.”

He called for further transparency on the project, saying that people are waiting for these homes while: “The people who live in the area are left staring at building sites, and the supposed additional parks and playgrounds are nowhere to be seen.”

Councillor Michelle Gould added that while a contractual dispute delayed the project: “There is no excuse for it to still be ongoing. She said that some homes have now “been under construction since before covid.”

“This regeneration project was supposed to be more than just bricks and mortar. The reality is that the snail’s pace of delivery will pull the whole project down,” she added, calling for an implementation review into the project.