Glossary

 

Active Travel

Active Travel is travelling by walking or cycling. Walking or cycling as part of a commute is considered active travel.

Affordable Housing

Owner-occupied or shared ownership housing provided at a price below the market value.

Appropriate Assessment (AA)

An ecological assessment of the likely impact of any plan, programme, or project on the conservation objectives of Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation, European Sites (formerly Natura 2000 sites) protected by Irish and European law.

Biodiversity

The variety of plants and animals that makes up the natural environment, including species richness, ecosystem complexity and genetic variation.

Blueways

A network of multi-activity recreational trails based on or alongside lakes, canals and rivers.

Bring Site

An area where glass, aluminium cans, paper and cardboard, etc. can be deposited for recycling.

Circular Economy

In a circular economy, waste and resource use are minimised; the value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible through good design, durability and repair; and when a product has reached the end of its life, its parts are used again and again to create further useful products.

Climate change

The long-term change in temperature and weather over an extended period, typically decades or longer.

Comparison Retail

Retail goods category includes clothing and footwear; furniture, furnishing and household equipment (excluding non-durable household goods); medical and pharmaceutical products, therapeutic appliances and equipment; educational and recreation equipment; excluding wholesale retail of the above.

Convenience Retail

Retail goods category includes food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, tobacco and nondurable household goods, excluding wholesale retail of the above.

Cork Metropolitan Area

Cork City including the urban towns of Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire and Tower, and the wider surrounding area including the towns of Carrigaline, Carrigtowill Cobh, Glounthaune and Midleton together with smaller settlements and countryside areas within this catchment.

Curtilage

The parcel of land immediately associated with a building or structure and which is (or was) in use for the purposes of the building or structure.

Density

Residential density means the number of homes within a given area of land, usually expressed in terms of one hectare.

Density (gross)

A gross density measure is used to determine how many homes are on any given area of land or development site, and this measure is widely used to estimate the overall land areas required to provide a given number of homes in a city, town, neighbourhood or development site.

Density (net)

A net density measure is more refined than a gross density measure and is usually applied to a specific development site. It only includes those areas of a site which will be developed for housing and directly associated uses such as access roads, gardens and incidental open space, but does not include distributor roads, schools, neighbourhood centres or strategic infrastructure such as large public open spaces.

Dwellings per Hectare (DPH)

This is a measure of residential density that tells us how many dwellings are provided on one hectare of land, in order to provide a means to compare the efficiency of the land use.

Electric vehicles (EV)

An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that is propelled by an electric motor that can be charged by connecting a plug to an appropriate electric power source, and has no internal combustion engine or fuel tank. Vehicles equipped with only an electric motor are called fully electric vehicles, while those equipped with both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor are called hybrid electric vehicles.

Fifteen-minute City

The 15-minute city is a concept where homes have access to a range of facilities and services such as employment, local shops and neighbourhood infrastructure within a 15-minute walk or cycle or trip using public transport.

Floor Area Ratio

Floor area ratio (also referred to as plot ratio) is the ratio of total floor area of a development in relation to the area of the site on which it is located area.

Flood Risk Assessment

A flood risk assessment is the identification, quantification and communication of flood risk using the source-pathway-receptor model. It examines the sources of flooding and the pathways by which floodwaters might reach receptors, such as people, property and the environment to determine the likelihood of them being affected by flooding. It also examines the flood hazards that are likely to arise and the vulnerability of receptors to such hazards. Flood risk can be assessed at different scales, from the national, through regional and local to site-specific.

Greenways

A corridor of protected open space that is maintained for conservation, recreation, and non-motorised transportation.

Infill Housing

Housing which fills gaps in an otherwise continuous built-up frontage, such as side gardens or vacant sites.

Integrated Land Use and Transportation Planning

Coordinating land-use planning with transportation planning in an holistic manner seeking multi-modal approaches to transportation with supportive land use development patterns to create a variety of transportation options.

Joint Housing Strategy

A joint strategy for Cork City Council and Cork County Council to address the housing needs of the existing and future population of Cork City and County.

Mobility Management Plans

A package of measures to promote and support sustainable and active travel patterns. Also known as a ‘Workplace Travel Plan.’

Modal Shift

Behavioural change relating to mode/ means of transport, such as car to bicycle use.

Nature Based Solution

Multi-functional drainage measures intended to protect and manage water resources using natural means and processes which also have the potential to provide spin-off environmental, biodiversity and societal well-being benefits.

Permeability

The degree to which an area has a variety of convenient and safe routes through it.

Placemaking

Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. It is about creating quality places and communities where people want to live, work and play, and about creating sustainable neighbourhoods and a sense of place.

Plot Ratio

The ratio between the total (gross) floor area of a building(s) and the site area. This is the same as Floor Area Ratio.

Public Realm

The public realm refers to all the external areas in our city, towns and neighbourhoods to which the public has access, such as roads, streets, lanes, parks, squares and open spaces. It includes public spaces between buildings.

Public Transport Corridor

A linear area served by public transport infrastructure, namely, a rail-line.

Quietway

A Quietway is an identified walking and cycling route where traffic is generally quieter, primarily using lightly trafficked back streets, through parks and alongside waterways and are designed to appeal particularly to new and inexperienced cyclists.

RAPID

Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development. A programme to support the development of disadvantaged areas through an integrated approach to planning, investment and development.

SEVESO III Sites

Sites involved in the storage and/or production of dangerous substances that present a major accident hazard, subject to  Directive 2012/18/EU (Seveso III) transposed into Irish legislation through S.I. No. 209 of 2015 Chemicals Act (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances) Regulations 2015, which seeks to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances, and to seek to limit as far as possible the consequences of such accidents on human health and the environment

Strategic Environmental Assessment

The formal, systematic assessment of the likely significant effects on implementing a plan or programme before a decision is made to adopt the plan or programme.

Social Housing

Rented housing provided either by the Local Authority or an Approved Housing Body.

Social Inclusion

Series of policies and actions aimed at achieving an inclusive and fair society, combating inequality, social exclusion, and poverty.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems

Techniques replicating ‘natural systems’ to reduce the potential impact of development with respect to surface water drainage discharges, through collection, storage and cleaning, prior to managed release into water courses.

Traffic and Transport Assessment

Assessment of traffic and transport impacts of a proposed development, and measures required to ensure continued adequacy of road network to accommodate the associated road traffic.

Windfall Sites

Previously developed land which unexpectedly becomes available for redevelopment.

Workplace Travel Plan

Package of measures supporting sustainable travel; promoting walking, cycling, public transport, car sharing, the use of technology instead of travel, and flexible working practices. Also known as Mobility Management Plans.