City Council defends plan to build road through major new park for northside

Cork City Council has defended a proposal to construct a large road through the planned North West Regional Park, saying it is necessary for the urban farm and adventure park proposed.

Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gould said that the proposal to build the Northern Distributor Road through the North West Regional Park “will have profound environmental impacts on air quality in the urban green space and potential habitats developed in the regional park.” 

She added that there are alternative routes for the Northern Distributor Road and intertwining the two projects could lead to delays in delivery, calling for the council to hold a public consultation specifically on this proposal.

The council's Gerry O’Beirne, director of infrastructure development, said that the Northern Distributor Road “will play a pivotal role in the sustainable development of Cork over the coming decades.

“It is, by a wide margin, the most important infrastructure investment proposal for the north side of Cork city and the future prosperity and growth of the area will be hugely influenced by the pace at which this infrastructure is delivered.” He said that the project has been the subject of extensive public consultation and is currently at the environmental assessment and preliminary design stage, with planning approval set to be sought in 2028.

“In relation to new park development, the city council’s original plan was limited to the development of a local urban park north of Hollyhill.

“However, the Council has been able to significantly expand the scope of its ambition to a large scale regional park and this is facilitated by the improved multimodal access provided by the distributer road and the benefit of an expanding population catchment which it supports.

“In addition to providing access to the expanded park area, the new roadway also supports the development of a diverse range of recreational uses in different areas.” 

A draft framework plan on the park is set to be published shortly and, following its finalisation, the council will prepare and publish a proposal for a first phase of development.

Mr O’Beirne said: “It is envisaged that the park will be developed in phases over a number of years in line with the overall development of the area and the funding available. To date, no external grant funding has been provided for development of the park.

“The early phases of the park are not dependent on the delivery of the northern distributor road but later phases of park development will benefit from the access opportunities that the roadway will create.

“The proposed park itself will be very large, and the topography is such that there are significant areas that are isolated and currently very difficult to access.

“Without a quality movement spine, large parts of the site would be difficult to activate, and provide passive surveillance and footfall.” 

He added that the draft masterplan envisages anchor zones, including an urban farm and an adventure park, and these will depend on the road bringing people to the heart of the park.

The new roadway will provide a multimodal corridor with dedicated active travel infrastructure, he added.