Category Archives: Climate Action

Cllr McCarthy presents his report on New European Bauhaus

May 22, 2022Climate Action, European Work, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorizedadmin

Douglas Road Independent Kieran McCarthy recently presented his report on the New European Bauhaus initiative to the European Committee of the Regions plenary in Brussels, to which he is a member. Kieran was tasked by the Committee to prepare a report on the initiative due to his interests in cultural heritage and climate action.

The New European Bauhaus is based on a concept from one hundred years ago in Europe but has been modernised and is now a creative and interdisciplinary initiative across areas from architecture to housing the circular economy that connects the European Green Deal programme to living spaces and experiences.

Cllr McCarthy in his report noted that the New European Bauhaus initiative is a key opportunity to harness the creative potential of regions and municipalities, provide jobs locally and create accepted and sustainable solutions. Kieran noted: “The European Commission must ensure that cities and regions are at the centre of the initiative and receive technical assistance and appropriate funding”.

The opinion proposes a New European Bauhaus Lab voucher scheme for 100 cities and regions to help them co-create, prototype and test the tools, solutions and policy actions that will facilitate transformation on the ground.

Kieran concluded: “I believe that the New European Bauhaus must become a real movement, which involves local and regional authorities and is not just another top-down project. It must be a project for everyone, not just the few. To be successful, this exercise must be socially, culturally and territorially inclusive”.

Kieran’s May Historical Walking Tours

May 7, 2022Arts, Climate Action, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Development, Ward Eventsadmin

Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has announced his historical walking tours for May, which have a focus on the hills and views of Cork. He will conduct walks across the area of Tramore Valley Park, St Patrick’s Hill area, and also around the Barrack Street area. The Tramore Valley Park tour will explore the development of the area from being a swamp through to being a landfill and then onto being an artificial mound to enable the development of a park. All of Kieran’s tours are free and no booking is required.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “Cork’s Tramore Valley Park is an exciting addition and recent initiative of Cork City Council. It is great to be able to revisit the cultural heritage of the park and its surrounds with the Kinship arts project this month. Historically William Petty’s 1655 map of the city and its environs marks the site of Tramore Valley Park as Spittal Lands, a reference to the original local environment and the backing up of the Trabeg and Tramore tributary rivers as they enter the Douglas River channel. We are lucky that there is also really interesting perspectives on the area recorded through the ages, which have been great to research”.

“Walking across the park, one can feel the tension in its sense of place, a place haunted and engineered by its past and teeming with ideas about its future. Of course, there are green spaces scattered across the city but none with the same scale of development and story as the 160 acre site off Kinsale Road. This is a site where the city’s environment has also been a regular topic of debate across local newspapers and in the city’s council political chamber”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.

Kieran’s May Tours:

Saturday 14 May 2022, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Tour around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).

Sunday 22 May 2022, Views from a Park – Tramore Valley Park, historical walking tour in association with the KinShip Project; meet at Halfmoon Lane gate, 2pm (free, duration: 90 minutes no booking required).

Saturday 28 May 2022, The Friar’s Walk; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).

Ward Watch – Proposals for Mahon Cycle Scheme, May 2022:

May 2, 2022Climate Action, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized, Ward Developmentadmin

Mahon Cycle Scheme Proposal, May 2022 (Cork City Council)

If you live in the areas below, it is very important to have a look at these road and public realm changing plans on the link below:

Cork City Council intends to carry out the following traffic management measures on:

Ringmahon Road,

Avenue de Rennes,

Skehard Road,

Ballinsheen Road,

Sean Cronin Park, Ashwood,

Mahon Drive,

Lakeland Crescent,

Loughmahon Road,

Loughmahon Park

and Castle Road

for the safety and convenience of road users, and in response to the public call for more pedestrian safety measures and the fixing of the public realm within the Mahon neighbourhood.

To see the proposed scheme with maps and to comment formally on the plans, click here: Mahon Cycle Scheme | Cork City Council’s Online Consultation Portal

The main elements of the proposed Mahon Cycle Scheme are:

– Renewal of footpaths and enhancements to the public realm.- Installation of upgraded controlled pedestrian crossing facilities.

– Installation of raised table-top ramps and uncontrolled crossing facilities at junctions.

– Installation of circa 5.3 km of cycle infrastructure, including segregated cycle tracks and greenways. – Signalisation of junctions at Ringmahon Road West/Skehard Road, Ringmahon Road/Avenue de Rennes and Skehard Road/Avenue de Rennes.

– Adjustments to the existing road layout, including traffic lanes, parking areas and new road markings and signage.- Other necessary associated works.

The project will be funded by the National Transport Authority, and offers funding heretofore non existent in Cork City Council’s coffers to do any works.

My email is at kieran_mccarthy@corkcity.ie if any clarifications are needed. I did ask that the maps be made easier to read. I was partially successful in that quest.

Kieran’s Press Quote:

“A e6m investment by the National Transport Authority into the heart of Mahon is significant. The funding may come from the National Transport Authority but it is being driven by Cork City Council as a response by local residents and ward councillors like myself calling for substantial investment in the public realm in Mahon”.

“The funding won’t solve all of the area’s crumbling footpaths and roads, but it is a start and does put a huge focus on the principal roads putting in protected cycleways bit also upgrading footpaths. I regularly get correspondence from Mahon residents calling for measures to slow down the traffic, calls to add in new pedestrian crossings, and altogether make it a better and safer area to be able to walk and cross the core roads in the area”.

“This is a big cycle scheme though with over 5.5kms of road space effected. I have called on the engineer involved in the project to have info days for the local community so people can hear about the process behind the project. I would call on all local people to have a look at the scheme on the Cork City Council Consultation web page. Google the latter and the scheme can be reviewed. If there questions and or concerns it is important to put in a submission during the public consultation phase. I have no doubt there will be aspects that local people can support and others that may not gather as much support – but please make a submission – is my call to local people who have concerns”.

McCarthy: Third Draft of New Cork City Development Plan Out to Public Consultation, April 2022

April 18, 2022Climate Action, Cork City Events, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized, Ward Developmentadmin

Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed “Our City, Our Future”, third draft of Cork City Development Plan, which has gone out to public consultation It which provides an overarching framework to help shape the transformation of the City over the next six years by supporting the creation of 20,000 homes and 33,000 jobs.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “It provides an exciting and opportunities driven transformative blueprint for Cork as the city sets out upon an exciting phase of growth and change – with sustainability, quality of life, social inclusion, and climate resilience at the plan’s core. This is the first City Development Plan to include the new city areas such as Douglas, Donnybrook and Rochestown taken in under the 2019 city boundary extension. So there has been a chance to consolidate thinking on improving the quality of life not just in those areas but also in the inner suburbs of Ballinlough, Ballintemple, Blackrock, Mahon and South Docklands”.

At a meeting of Cork City Council on 15 March 2022, the Elected Members considered the Draft City Development Plan and the Chief Executive’s Report on submissions received. It was resolved at that meeting by the Elected Members of Cork City Council to amend the Draft Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028.

Cork City Council Chief Executive, Ann Doherty said: “This next phase of public consultation follows widespread listening and engagement with stakeholders in the first and second rounds of public consultation. I’d like to thank everyone who made a submission to date. We have engaged with a broad church of stakeholders reflecting the diversity of Cork City and the work of the Elected Members on the ground in our city’s communities and this engagement has been integral to the whole process.”

Cork City Council invites submissions on the Proposed Alterations to the Draft Development Plan. This is the third stage of formal public consultations. Submissions can be made online at https://consult.corkcity.ie/

The Draft Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028 is available to view at www.corkcitydevelopmentplan.ie

Cllr McCarthy Promotes City Council’s Climate Action Programmes

March 20, 2022Climate Action, Improve Your Life, Landscapes, Uncategorized, Ward Developmentadmin

Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the ongoing progress of Cork City Council’s Climate Adaptation Strategy and has created and posted a new web page on the Council’s climate action work on his website www.kieranmccarthy.ie. The Council’s Climate Action Committee and the Climate Action Team provide governance and management for all climate actions for which Cork City Council is responsible, including the 66 implementation actions from the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2019-2024 and actions contained in the Climate Charter. The majority of these actions are being implemented or ongoing.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “I often get regular requests from students and interested locals on what kind of strands and projects Cork City Council is working on in terms of climate action. The existing and developing programmes are helping to increase resilience on the ground and do tie in with National Climate action programmes. There is a lot going on. There is also some really interesting and innovative partnership work going on in an array of diverse areas from energy, food, green schools, biodiversity, lifelong learning, park development, to funding and supporting Tidytowns and exploring and implementing the sustainable development goals”.

Cllr McCarthy continued; “The City Council’s Climate Action Unit has worked recently with the Glucksman and the Planning Department of UCC to deliver a programme that asked school children what they would do if they had ‘Freedom of the City’. The unit is working with the Public Participation Network and Cork Environmental Forum to support local community groups to develop their own climate action plans”.

“In essence, what I describe as a more innovative urban agenda for Cork is emerging through the lenses of climate action programmes. Such thinking is also emerging as frameworks in the new draft City Development plan. My new web page I have created and posted up on kieranmccarthy.ie pulls together an array of over 30 ongoing City Council led projects, which are very positive for Cork society, provide new innovative angles for Cork’s economic development, and showcase the importance of partnership and leadership”, Cllr McCarthy concluded.

View: Climate Action | Cllr. Kieran McCarthy