Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy wishes to remind the general public that Cork City Council has launched a consultation process for the preparation of the vitally important City Development Plan (CDP) 2022-2028, which will provide the framework for how the city will grow and develop in the coming years.
This City Development Plan comes at an extraordinary time for Cork. Last year, the city’s population grew to 210,000 following an extension of the city boundary which positioned Cork as a city of scale. Furthermore, it has been set government targets to grow by 50% over the next 20 years so that it can provide a counterbalance to Dublin.
The preparation of a City Development Plan involves a 13 step process, with three separate public consultation phases. The City Development Plan process should be completed within a two year period.
As part of this initial consultation, Cork City Council is seeking the views of the public on how to best develop Cork City to meet the changing needs of our society, environment and economy while realising the ambitions set for our city. The public is invited to read the ‘Our City – Our Future’ issues paper which is available at www.corkcitydevelopmentplan.ie, at Cork City libraries and by appointment at the Planning Counter at Cork City Hall. A submission on the plan can be made as part of this initial public consultation from 26 June until 21 August 2020.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “Cork’s future is bright and filled with opportunities. There is much to celebrate and much to challenge Ireland’s southern capital. The enlargement of the city’s boundary in 2020 has solved some problems of areas needing to expand and be part of an enlarged city – so there could be more joined up resources. The enlargement though has left many blank canvasses for the city to debate and pin down such as transport and mobility, energy consumption and transition, the digital city, the circular economy, sustainable land-use and climate change adaptation”.
“Add in other debates such as those on the sustainable development goals, the new Regional Spatial Strategy Cork 2050, and there is a very real need for Cork to work harder than ever before to get ahead of the curve, seek investment, and for all to work together on Cork’s urban agenda There are no silver bullets either to any of the latter challenges. There is certainly no room for siloised thinking in the Cork of the future. But Cork in its past and in its present has never been afraid of hard work, passion and working together”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
Cork City Council is also to engage in an extensive public consultation process to gather the views of people around the City Development Plan. This will include webinars, community engagement, surveys, a photographic competition for young people.
