Cllr McCarthy: Douglas and Rochestown Deserve Better

At first read, it is welcome to hear that a further e1billion is to be invested in public transport in Cork. That is great news. But at first glance I am really disappointed by the emerging preference route and will be calling on the NTA for a complete revamp of the eastern section and for it to go back to the design board. The Douglas and Rochestown area have a combined population of 20,000. Why stop the tram at Mahon Point Shopping Centre area?

The ambition is really lacking in the eastern section. The city was expanded for good reason in 2019 to make the city one of scale where scale can support the release of funding and investment into public infrastructure. I cannot in good faith go back as a public rep to those 20,000 people I represent in Douglas and Rochestown and say that your area may be serviced by the second tranche of planning for a Luas line that may or may not come in decades to come in your lifetime or not. It is essential that the Luas takes in Douglas and Rochestown and not only that there should be mapping as well as far as Carrigaline. There is an enormous opportunity here that should not be missed. Douglas and Rochestown deserve better”.

Read about the part 8 here: Cork Docklands to City Centre Road Network Improvement Scheme | Cork City Council’s Online Consultation Portal

I’d also like to welcome this part 8.

The investment in a historic area such as Albert Road and Hibernian Buildings is very worthy.

It is an important part of the ecosystem of Docklands and I have always felt that it is not spoken about enough. Even within the narrative of Docklands future planning, the story and spirit of the area remains limited in its story telling.

The story of the Cork Improved Dwellings Company, a company made up of employers in our city, who from 1860s through to the 1890s invested in over 400 employee houses. Hibernian Buildings being in their second phase and being infused very early on by Lithuanian refugee Jews, who found themselves in Cork.

Hibernian Buildings and its surrounds became known for its close-knit community and in very recent years, the demographic change is very clear, with many new individuals, couples and families moving into the warren of houses.

Clearly with the number of submissions – 83 in all – on this part 8, there has been a renewal of expectation on this historic neighbourhood

The last public investment into the area was the creation of Shalom Park and the National Sculpture Park, both from 1989; and in recent years, the renewal of the park in Kennedy Park.

But it has been several years since Albert Road area has seen substantial investment.

The slowing down measures are welcome as are the new trees, the keeping of the grotto.

The removal of the residential access link between Eastville and Kingston Avenue is welcome.

There is a welcome commitment to look at the lack of safety at Kennedy Quay and Victoria Road junction and the general pedestrian crossings in the area, Plus high quality landscaping

There are still larger issues that need to be tackled.

We need to grasp the nettle and to move large trucks moving through the area out of these residential roads.

The foundations of these historic buildings are shallow and the fabric not as strong as other nineteenth century buildings in Cork.

So these buildings shake. There may be commissioned studies out there on the damage from the shakiness.

There are certainly resident’s who have collected data through taking photographs and videos.

My understanding as well that funding in still needed from the NTA for this part 8. We need to get this funding in place.

And to work very carefully with residents as this project is being rolled out.
Ends

Read about the project here: Part 8 Planning Notice – Scairt Cross Development | Cork City Council’s Online Consultation Portal

There has been a long process to get this point, and I appreciate the work done on this project by our housing directorate and the partners on this project.

I’d also like to thank local residents for their journeying with this housing proposal; it has been a long and anxious two years.

There have been many comments by local residents concerning traffic, lack of public transport options, height, density, architecture, issues around place-making.

There have been significant amendments, which I am glad for especially taking down in height the tower element at the front of the building.

But for all the amendments, for me it still boils down to a development that just doesn’t fit in the area.

And this is where I am very torn on this development arising from long meetings with colleagues and local residents.

Indeed, my overall perspective on this development and what I can’t keep thinking about is that “Douglas Deserves Better”

I watch the overall development of new houses – public and private in the Donnybrook area – which is great but I watch with unease the “housing at all cost”unsustainable planning model.

And it’s not just one estate it is the myriad of them all together.

I really worry for the area from upper Donnybrook into the Castletreasure area.

There are no real ambitions around a proper public transport system, no ambition around new large public parks and playgrounds, no ambitions around neighbourhood building, and no ambitions around sustainable place making;

and I think one of the prime weaknesses in all of this is within our own City Development Plan, which doesn’t take into account enough the issues of sustainable planning in the outer suburbs of the city.

And so my gut and experience as a public rep for so many years now is to vote no to this proposal on the grounds of unsustainable planning.

It’s my call that Douglas deserves better scrutiny in how it is being planned for the future. Ultimately Douglas deserves better.