Plan for drop-off area at Cork's Páirc Uí Chaoimh rejected by city council 

Plans for a bus set-down and turning point at the city side of Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been rejected by councillors amid concern by local residents.

Cork City Council intended to consider granting permission to Páirc Uí Chaoimh CTR for a vehicular setdown and drop-off circulation area at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Marina Park on Monahan Rd, Ballintemple.

The development would materially contravene a zoning objective of the Cork City Development Plan which states that the subject site is situated on lands zoned as ‘public open space’, with the objective “to protect, retain, and provide for passive and active recreational uses, open space, green networks, natural areas, and amenity facilities”.

As the zoning objective would not facilitate the proposed development, councillors first had to vote on amending the development plan to rezone the area so that the plans could be progressed.

Issues

A council spokesperson noted that issues related to access, traffic, and parking were deemed satisfactory during the previous planning process.

They said that subject to compliance with conditions agreed by planners, “the proposed development would not seriously injure the residential or visual amenity of the area; and is in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

The plan went to elected members after the planning body, an executive function of the council, agreed that the proposed development could be supported in principle from a planning perspective, notwithstanding a zoning objective.

Prior to the vote, which took place at last night’s council meeting, a public consultation was held on the amendment to the plan to facilitate the development, and a total of 17 submissions from the public were received by the council.

Safety concerns 

Some 16 of these recommended refusal of the plans, mentioning issues including the lack of adequate traffic management currently in place for events at the facility, the choice to use a location near a popular pedestrian entrance, and safety concerns. One submission in favour was submitted by the applicant.

Green Party councillor Dan Boyle said the proposal was “limiting of public space at the behest, and to the benefit, of an organisation”, and a continuation of an ongoing trend which he objected to.

“We must protect the utility we have created in Marina Park,” he said.

One of the proposal supporters, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gould, said: “As an avid fan and supporter of the GAA, they are the heart and soul of our city and county. We’re willing to travel the length and breadth of county, but we can’t even have proper access to our own home of the GAA.”

Fianna Fáil’s Terry Shannon said that Páirc Uí Chaoimh was “not the GAA — it’s a business”, adding that there was already traffic gridlock in the area.

His party colleague Mary Rose Desmond said she was well aware of the traffic issues, but “whether it is passed or whether it fails will make no impact in any way, shape or form, to the traffic congestion in the area.”

Critical

Labour’s Peter Horgan said the plan “dissects a critical line in Marina Park. At the moment it’s safe for families to use, as a mother or father, you know that no cars will come up on that road.”

Both he and Fine Gael’s Des Cahill said that if the plan was moved to the southern side of the building, they and local residents might be in favour of it.

As the proposal constituted an amendment to the city development plan, 23 councillors, or three-quarters of the total, needed to vote in favour for it to be approved, rather than the simple majority needed for most planning decisions.

The vote came to 20 in favour and 10 against, with those 10 including the three Green Party councillors, three Labour, one Social Democrat, as well as Fianna Fáil’s Terry Shannon, Fine Gael’s Des Cahill, and Independent Kieran McCarthy.

As it failed to reach the majority required, the plans will not progress.

Disappointment

Cork GAA and the Board of Páirc Uí Chaoimh Stadium told The Echo they noted the refusal with disappointment.

Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan commented: “We had consulted widely and considered multiple factors in making this application.

“The design was intended to greatly improve public safety by making it easier for buses attending the stadium to allow their passengers to disembark away from the public roadway on Monahan Road, and then to turn safely.

“This was not for commercial purposes, or to remove public access to Marina Park in any way. This was to help the flow of people on busy days at the county’s largest venue.

“We now need to consider the options open to the stadium, as the decision of a minority of councillors does not solve the problem that required the action to be taken in the first place.”