Litir Chumhdaigh
I am a private citizen of Cork who loves walking and cycling in the city. I want others, including children and older citizens, to be able to experience the efficiency and pleasure of cycling for day to day activities and for leisure. For that we need more safe cycling infrastructure that is linked, without dangerous gaps.
I believe the Lee to Sea Greenway would be an incredible asset for Cork - as an active travel route for commuting and other daily trips like shopping, for leisure, for tourism etc. It would bring green tourists to Cork in droves, with subsequent economic benefits. By providing a strategic, linked spine all the way from Iniscarra Dam to Crosshaven and attracting people out of their cars all along that route, it would help improve air quality and reduce congestion all along the route.
1. I commend the City Council for the huge improvements in walking and cycling infrastructure in the city over the past 2 years in particular. The focus now needs to shift towards providing continuous cycle routes by linking the existing network. Major artery routes need to be of high quality and segregated by hard infrastructure (kerbing, etc). A clear map needs to be provided for what routes will be delivered over the lifetime of the City Development Plan.
2. I ask for the Lee to Sea Greenway (L2S) to be identified as a specific objective in the Transport Chapter, Chapter 4. (Please pass to people dealing with Chapter 4 along with rational below which is relevant for this chapter also)
3. I ask that the Lee to Sea Greenway is specifically identified in Chapter 2 as a strategic objective, not just by the term ‘Greenway’. The L2S is highly unusual in contributing to achieving so many overarching goals, principles, & objectives. The L2S addresses multiple and diverse aspects of the CDP, incl. directly contributing to all 9 of CDP’s key strategic principles. The L2S is consistent with every one of these.
4. I ask that the Lee to Sea Greenway is prioritised as a short-term deliverable, fully in place within 2-3 years. As a strategic piece of infrastructure, L2S makes a big contribution to the NSOs, esp. 4 (zero-carbon active travel), 7 (accessible natural & built heritage), 8 (low transport emissions), 9 (Green Infra & biodiversity). Also: 1 (neighbourhood connectivity), 2 (links to bus/rail), 5 (tourism), 6 (Eurovelo1). The L2S also fulfills UN SDGs, esp. 3 (good health & well-being thru active travel), 8 (boosting Cork tourism), 11 & 13 (reduced carbon emissions). Also 15 (biodiversity opportunities).
5. I ask that the city uses the Lee to Sea Greenway to fulfil its key objectives as a primary climate-mitigation measure.
6. I ask that a more realistic cycling target of 15 % is used as a target cycling share for Cork. The CMATS baselines should not be referenced in the City Development Plan. Cork as an expanding city needs to be marketed as a forward-looking and progressive city with safe cycling as an efficient and attractive way of getting around.