A Chara,
Firstly i would like to thank the city council for affording the opportunity to comment on the draft plan for cork and to applaud their vision and commitment.
My submission is focused on a very small , though critical, zone of the inner city, namely the Mardyke walk and specifically the western section of the mardyke walk form the entrance gates to UCC and the sacred heart church on western road.
Historically the mardyke walk has been a green lung for the citizens of the borough since the early 1700's. The 1800's saw the development of the Sunday's well tennis and cricket club, the UCC sports fields and Fitzgeralds park. All attract ever increasing footfall every single day and the recent covid restrictions would seem to indicate that many more people are including the mardyke walk on the daily perambulations.
In the context of creating a city of neighbourhoods and living communities and in the spirit of enhancing our built and natural heritage the city council needs to regenerate the mardyke walk.
If the city council wants to adhere to one of the key tenets of the Freiburg future cities principles then consideration should be given to depriororitising the use of space on this walkway for cars.
Currently there are no extra speed limits or traffic calming measures to ensure or indeed to promote more careful driving. To this observer, the upper mardyke has become a linear car park. The increased levels of footfall requires a radical re-think of how we should continue to use and access the mardyke walk.
Originally the mardyke was lined by trees on both sides. In recent times the trees have all but disappeared from the northern side walks and more and more are disappearing from the southern side of the walkway and are not being replaced by the council. There are strong environmental reasons for planting suitable trees for this urban environment and visually it will return that green lung to the city and its citizens.
The built structures need oversight and some rigour in terms of archectural homogeneity and the council should play a more pro-active role in this regard to maintain the architectural integrity of the mardyke walk.