Let the Glen River Park be a destination

re Cork City Development Plan 2022-28 Congratulations on the draft plan. I appreciate your intention to make Cork a greener and more pleasant place for all of its inhabitants and visitors. I understand that your proposal attempts to achieve this by using the Glen River Park as a cycle route. I would like to submit a response The Glen is not a suitable place to put a designated Cycle route. The Glen is already a special Place, it already has a strong identity and strong local attachment. An official cycle path would transform our park from a place of stillness and quiet destination into a thoroughfare, inhibiting the pleasure of those many visitors who come to the park to spend time safely away from busy and fast traffic. They come to enjoy the Glen in and of itself. The Glen river park comprises of section of a glacial valley with steep sides to the North and South, as such it has an elongated shape with footpaths on either side of the river. The shape of the park means that walkers meander the course of the river between these valley walls. Even for those who are unaware of the breadth and depth its rich natural and social history, it has a particular wild charm which is appreciated by visitors of all ages. The wild nature of the Glen has evolved through careful non intervention and a light hand in park management. Walkers stroll with their pets, families play alongside the river on both sides, the river with its water fowl is a special attraction for mothers with small children, families come to the Glen to explore the natural habitat, and enjoy the freedom to be away from traffic and to be on a loose reign, to take time out to enjoy peace and quiet, to make discoveries and connections in nature for themselves. this kind of experience is unique in the city and an essential oasis for those of us who live on the North East side of Cork. A cycle route through this oasis would utterly change our experience of the park. It will increase the speed and impose a strong traffic current through a narrow space where people are accustomed to meander freely. Widening footpaths will encroach on already narrow bands of vegetation - trees and shrubs, wild flowers, all of which is habitat to the Glen’s particular wildlife. It is also interesting for humans to appreciate and for their children to clamber through and explore at will. The position of the proposed path will cut off this experience on the south side of the park. Parents will have to be super vigilant of young people at all times and everyone will need to be on their guard for passing traffic. The park isn’t wide enough to accommodate a cycle route through its recreational space. Improved road surface will encourage motorised bikes, (which are an occasional noisy and dangerous nuisance to park walkers). Any kind of special sanction for wheels in motion will increase speed and imposes a strong direction on the Glen as a still and quiet Place in and of itself. Access to the Glen is steep which will incur an acceleration on entry. Feasibility reports must have factored in value for money, I expect this means a significant increase in traffic is required to avail of funding for this plan. Traffic in a park as narrow as the Glen would radically transform its character and usage. I also strongly object to any artificial lighting which may be planned for the cycle route, This would be disastrous for the wildlife that also has a home in the Glen. The Glen already has occasional cyclists who come to the Glen for pleasure without needing a designated route, they come to enjoy the park. Visitors can also park their bicycles in the car parks at either end of the Glen. I am deeply concerned about the imposition of an official flow of traffic through the park. I understand the green and blue routes are designed to provide Cork City inhabitants and visitors with a greenway to enhance their pleasure of place, but I don’t understand why it has to be at the expense of another already existent green space, especially when there is already so little of it, particularly on the NE side of the city. I suggest that the plan should fulfil its objectives by increasing the green space. A cycle path on the Northern perimeter of the Glen, adding green landscaping to the road and ample footpath, creating a pleasant green flow space for commuting and traversing cyclists here. Let the Glen Park be a destination.