This submission makes several planning arguments in favour of an expansion of the residential zoning designation at lands located at Saint Ann’s Road Blarney Cork City. A portion of the lands in the ownership of the O’Reilly Family are zoned ‘New Residential Neighbourhood’ rather than being designated as within the ‘Hinterland’ area of Cork City. The subject lands adjoin the established built-up area of Blarney, and a portion of the lands are zoned as residential [circa 13acres] – this submission seeks an expansion [a further circa 13 acres] of the residential zoning in view of the proximity of the lands to the town centre and local services as well as their capacity to connect to local infrastructural services. The subject lands are put forward as a viable location for an expanded residential designation based on their sustainable location in proximity to the town and public transport network.
This Submission is appropriately being made on the same day as the government launches the 2021-2030 National Development Plan (NDP). While full details of the NDP have yet to be announced, it is confirmed as being the largest public capital investment programme in the history of the State in relation to transport and housing and this is broadly welcomed. A key element of the investment is that the NDP will commit to €35bn in spending on transport up to 2030 of particular relevance to this submission and Cork generally is that €185m has been committed to the Cork Commuter Rail service which runs from Mallow to Midleton via Blarney and Cork City, with a ten-minute frequency, and this is estimated to be in place within five years. This is transformative and there is an opportunity for Cork City Council to take full advantage of the timing of this announcement to make key adjustments to increase the amount of land zoned for housing along this corridor as the infrastructure [unlike other large scale infrastructure projects] will be in place within the lifetime of this plan. A rail based settlement growth strategy is key to achieving sustainable development outcomes.
13 acres of the land is zoned for redidential development - there exists an opportunity to zone at least an additional 13 acres and achieve key road improvements/planning gain [playing pitch/sports field etc]
Ambitious Population and Housing Targets: In the context of the significant supply-side challenges currently facing both the housing and planning sectors, evidence is presented in this submission that substantiates the view that more proactive measures are needed to meet the population and housing targets set out at a regional level. To meet these targets, the local authority [through the act of land use zoning] is required to provide sufficient and suitable lands in sustainable locations for which this development can happen. It is considered that the city council have adopted a very conservative approach in their attempt to achieve the significant and considerable growth which is earmarked for Cork. The ‘hinterland’ area in particular is considered extremely short sighted and the local authority are pleaded with to view the ‘hinterland’ for what it was intended to be when the boundary extension occurred which is - a future development area for which to accommodate the long term growth of Cork
City over the next few development cycles – this 6 year plan seems to adopt a very rural view akin to a county council authority and could be very difficult to reverse and accommodate growth into the future.