We thank the staff of Cork City Council who have worked on the Plan. We are heartened by the improvement on previous plans. This is the template for the development of Cork city for the next five years. It is vital to our citizens that the template supports their lives and the environment in which they live. The consequences of any mistakes will affect the lives of future generations.
The language of the plan is vague when it refers to matters of environmental concern. Consideration of targets and limits with regard to the environmental aspects of planning are couched in aspirational language. The plan needs to be definate and definitive. We are acutely aware of how easily aspirations are swept aside when faced with legal and financial challenge.
The focus in the built environment section is on the proposed expansion of new homes and the refurbishment of existing properties in the Development Plan.
Cork City Council must adopt a Home Performance Index as a measurement system, to be a mandatory requirement for all potential tenderers carrying out housing projects within the remit of the City Council. This will measure the performance of the building and also the recoverability of all materials used in its construction.
Detailed Rationale here:
(Ref: 5.25.) According to SEAI data, emissions from housing and construction can be as high as 37% of the total energy usage in Ireland. This figure is second only to transport emissions. The introduction of Building Reg Part L, 2019, incorporating near zero energy building, has substantially reduced the in use energy demand of future building. This is a very narrow focus and does not consider the emissions generated during the building process from extraction of mineral, to fabrication of equipment or the dealing with the end of life of buildings.
It is estimated that when this energy is calculated, it can be equal to as much as 40-60 years worth of the operational energy of use of a new building. The construction sector is responsible for over 35% of the EU's total waste generation. Greenhouse gas emissions from material extraction, manufacturing of construction products, as well as construction and renovation of buildings are estimated at 5-12% of total national GHG emissions. Greater material efficiency could save 80% of those emissions.
There are many different standards and measurement methods available to measure the 'Whole life Cycle' of the building process that can better inform building industry, government and the public in general. Tools include LEAD used in the US, BREAM in the UK and an new system being rolled out across EU called LEVELs. Here in Ireland, the Irish Green Building Council have their own version call Home Performance Index (HPI). This measures the Whole life Cycle of a building from mineral extraction to construction to eventual replacement of the building. It is a scoring system that also awards extra points to building for density, design access to public amenities, public transport etc.
Cork city will be transformed over the coming decades with population increases and with the number of new builds set to rise by as much as 60%. We can achieve this expansion while being an exemplar of positive development which aligns perfectly with other goals set out in the plan such as achieving circularity and the adoption of a 15-minute city.
(Ref: 5.34) The reference in the plan to the potential contribution of renewable energy in the large developments in the docklands is scant and tokenism. Renewable heating systems such as district heating deserves much more than a cursory mention. A commitment to undertake a serious review of this matter is required.
Geothermal heating should be standardised in new housing developments.
Housing developments of more than 100 units must be within 200m of a bus stop.
Bus shelters should be at all bus stops.
Access to public transport depends on frequency, availability and comfort
All housing developments outside the city area need to have schools, shops, adult education centres, allotments, creches and playgrounds built in from the planning stage. This is the minimum infrastructure necessary for the local community to develop cohesively from the start. Sufficient land must be allocated specifically for their planned development.
Ref: Objective 3.4 Compact Growth and Objective 3.9 Adaptation of existing homes.
The wholesale transfer of vacant and derelict buildings into new housing units must be a priority. A greater emphasis on such development would be stimulated by the transfer of any incentives available for new build projects toward renovating and restoring properties.
Implement the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 to include all qualifying properties on the Local Authority's Vacant Sites Register by default.
Re-centre the focus in Blackpool to the centre of the old village, where people live, rather than the continued development in the area of the Retail Park.
Bring the Library into the village from the shopping centre complex.
Protect the Bride River - stop the proposed plan to culvert the river. It is more costly than more sympathetic interventions. The culvert would speed up the flow of water through Blackpool, increasing rather than decreasing the likelihood of flooding. It would wipe out the local otter population and diminish general biodiversity. It would strip the locality of the well-being amenity that the river used to be and could be again if well tended.
Make a cycleway along the North Ring Road, not through the Glen River Park, as suggested in the plan. There is plenty of room to safely facilitate a cycleway on the existing road. The Glen River Park would be irreversibly damaged by the currently proposed infrastructure.
Currently old buildings are reluctantly given scant consideration in proposals for local development. The summary demolition of whole buildings, such as The Sextant, and the stripping out of buildings like Navigation House and the Camden Palace, which makes the facade even more vulnerable and destroys the integrity of the heritage embodied in the original building and the local history it signifies, is unacceptable.
Drinking-water fountains/taps should be installed in all new open space developments - parks, new streets, shopping areas, etc. Included, also, in upgrades and repaving of existing areas.
All hard-surface parking for cars must be permeable to allow rainwater to go straight into the ground rather than be directed into the drainage system. The system is already over-taxed. The ground structure and health will benefit from the moisture and it will reduce flooding risk as the flow will be slowed down. This must apply to new and resurfaced public carparks, whether publicly or privately owned, and to onsite parking for all new housing developments. It is evident that earlier developments, such as Blackpool Shopping Centre, have contributed to the overwhelming of the drainage infrastructure, with wide-ranging effects. Paving over gardens to make driveways has the same cumulative impact in inner suburbs like Turner's Cross. A permeable surface will be just as efficient for parking and not undermine the water table or overwhelm the drainage system.
The Lee to Sea Greenway to be included as an Objective in the Core Strategy (Chapter 2)
The Lee to Sea Greenway should be added as a specific Objective in Chapter 4 (Transport), with a plan for route selection, funding and implementation to be carried out in the short term.
We would also like the route to be branded and marketed as a single route as it incorporates other fragments (like Passage West, for example).
(Ref: Objective 2.1 UN Strategic Development Goals)
We live in a country which has been significantly influenced by the perspective of men. The plan needs to recognise that over half of the adult population are women. Also, that the poorest households are headed up by women. Therefore, we think that the Strategic Objectives 1-9 should aim to include SDG1 and SDG5 in the thinking used to inform the achievements of those objectives.
The plan should also be informed by the perspective of all ages - from the youngest to the oldest. The experience of younger people and older people should be actively canvassed when coming to decisions for this plan. A suggestion would be to set up a Childrens' Citizen Assembly and Older Peoples's Citizens Assembly.
Since interest in Eco-burial is growing worldwide and in Ireland, the Council should provide it as an alternative to traditional burial practices, which are seen as detrimental to the natural environment. Chetwynd (St. Oliver's) and Kilcully Cemeteries provide real possibilities for having sections dedicated to Eco-burial.