Litir Chumhdaigh
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft development plan. I am someone who is very concerned with climate change and the ability of spatial planning to promote mitigation and adaptation. I mistakenly titled my submission as primarily about Ballincollig, but it is intended to comment on a broader range of issues.
Section 10.212 points out the need for more leisure activities and accessible green space. I thoroughly agree with this statement. The regional park is lovely and a tremendous asset for Ballincollig, but as Cork moves towards developing a 15-minute city there needs to be more leisure activities and accessible green space spread throughout the town, not just concentrated in the park.
Recommendation: the need for more leisure activities and accessible green space is included in an objective.
Section 10.214 describes the public realm improvement scheme on Main Street as having prioritised pedestrians and cyclists over private cars. The widened footpaths have done a great deal to promote the walkability of Ballincollig, but it is still extremely unpleasant to cycle through. Both sides of the road have space for parked cars. Cycling down the Main Street requires constant awareness of people opening car doors and drivers pulling out into traffic. Objective 10.56 discusses the renovation of Main Street and Times Square. I propose that in this renovation all public parking is removed along the Main Street except for the necessary number of disabled spaces. There are hundreds of parking spaces in the multi-story at Dunnes and the public car park behind the Main Street, the thirty that are on the Main Street are unnecessary and a public nuisance.
Section 10.216 describes a good quality cycle network on Old Fort Road and Main Street. Sections of the cycle are very good and the council is to be commended for installing bollards along Main Street, which has made cycling along Main Street possible, particularly at school drop-off and pick-up times. However, the connections between the cycle lanes are lacking and seriously impede the possibility to cycle safely. For example, cycling from Colaiste Choilm to Ballincollig Community School--the cycle lane starts strong, then disappears at an intersection, comes back, disappears at the next intersection. A cyclist would need to turn right to get to Old Fort Road, which requires either pushing a bike as a pedestrian or riding in the middle of the land of traffic. Having turned onto Old Fort Road, there is no cycle lane until one appears past the McDonald's and then crosses Old Fort Road and becomes a bidirectional cycle route outside the Carraig Centre. I recommend a re-do of the cycle route that provides a continuous and protected route.
Section 10.220 identifies the former Supernova and the Maglin Urban Expansion Area as locations for new school developments. Many of the schools in Ballincollig are at or over capacity and new schools are needed. Ideally the location of the schools, particularly secondary schools, would be dispersed so that it is feasible for more pupils to walk or cycle to school. The locations in Maglin are preferable to the former Supernova.
Map 16 (Ballincollig)
--on the map there are no indications that there will be a cycleway or walkway along the Model Farm Road or the Carrigrohane Straight Road. Both roads are essential pieces of transport infrastructure that enable many people to walk or cycle to work, education and shopping. There is currently a cycleway along the Straight Road that should be maintained and will form a critical section of the Lee to Sea Greenway. Please indicate where the walkways and cycleways will go along the Straight Road and Model Farm Road.
--the paths of walkways and cycleways in the Regional Park that are drawn on the map appear to follow the line of the existing paths. Following best practice, it would be preferable to have distinct walking and cycling paths that separate people moving at slower and faster speeds. This will be particularly important when the Lee to Sea Greenway is built and even more people use the greenway for going to school and commuting, as well as the tourists it will attract.
--on the map it indicates that there is a walking and cycling path connection across Model Farm Road on the Curraheen Greenway. The individual sections of the Curraheen Greenway are fabulous and I much appreciate the recent improvements, especially paving the access route to the IDA, but the lack of a Model Farm Road crossing is a serious short-coming. It is inconvenient, awkward and sometimes feels very unsafe to cross Model Farm Road without a signalised crossing.
The city council’s determination to reduce emissions and promote adaptation are laudable. It shows the council embracing the LGMA’s description of the mission of local government to ‘deliver transformative change and measureable climate action across our cities and counties.’ I support Objectives 5.6 Climate Change Projects and 5.8 Decarbonising Zone and urge the City Council to support, resource, and promote climate change projects and decarbonising zones with a real sense of urgency (unfortunately it seems that the council has missed the April 2021 deadline for identifying a decarbonising zone). Regarding Objective 5.22 Electric Vehicles I would ask the counsel to consider that despite national government support of electric vehicles, electric vehicles are not zero emission vehicles. When driving they emit particulate matter from brakes, tyres, and road abrasions. In addition, it requires tremendous energy and material resources to produce electric vehicles and the power for their batteries needs to come from somewhere. I would urge the council to add another objective or perhaps modify objective 5.24 Green and Blue Infrastructure so that it expresses strong support for walking and cycling infrastructure, transport according for 40% of Ireland’s carbon emissions. Following the LGMA’s mission for local governments to introduce measurable climate action, measuring modal share and kilometres of enhanced walking and cycling infrastructure would be good measurable initiatives. Cycle counters would be particularly helpful and relatively inexpensive to acquire.
The first item in table 4.3 Walking and Cycling Improvements is the Lee to Sea. It heartening to see the council including Lee to Sea in discussions in the draft development plan, but it needs an objective of its own, not just a discussion in the table. In addition to its tourism potential, the Lee to Sea provides an opportunity for people to carry out their daily tasks in a way that provides exercise and improves mental and physical health; has no emissions, thereby improving air quality and reducing noise pollution; and reduces congestion. The Lee to Sea has the potential to be the backbone of a strategic and well-designed cycle and walking network that makes Cork a national and international leader in sustainable transport.
It is interesting to see that other local authorities are embracing the role that greenways can play in the development of their cities and counties. In Limerick, the draft development plan (2022-2028) has three objectives that address greenways. Strikingly the longest and most detailed objective is in the strong economy chapter, emphasising the impact that providing sustainable transport infrastructure can have on the economy of a region. Objective ECON037 states that it is an objective of council to support providing needed infrastructure (car parking, bike hire and other facilities) along the Limerick, Greenway, extend the greenway in both directions, develop new greenways (including one in conjunction with Clare County Council) and examine the potential for the development of a third greenway. Likewise Waterford County Council’s draft development plan 2022-2028 incudes the greenway through the draft development plan, including when considering strategic employment opportunities. It also includes the greenway in numerous objectives:
-W City 29 includes the Waterford Greenway in planning for public amenity and biodiversity during the redevelopment of the South Quays in Waterford City
-Trans 10 commits the council to continue to develop integrated network of greenways and blueways
-SC38 calls for safe access to the greenway and new links for rural settlements
In addition 4 other objectives address developing greenways and blueways
I would ask that Cork City Council likewise embraces the possibilities of the Lee to Sea and includes an objective that prioritises the delivery, planning, implementation, marketing and promotion of the Lee to Sea.
Objectives 5.1 and 5.2 in the climate change chapter commit the council to pursueing a low carbon, environmentally sustainable city and a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 in line with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act. However, examining the transport chapter the budgets alone indicate that roads and the carbon-intensive travel they induce are the council’s main priority. It’s budgeted that €545 million be spent on the bus network and €230 million on cycling infrastructure compared to €1.39 billion for road infrastructure, which is roughly half. It’s only when suburban and light rail are added into the picture that the spend on sustainable transport becomes greater than the expenditure on roads. If the council is serious about pursueing objectives 5.1 and 5.2, the funding for transport needs to be re-examined, even if it involves conflict with national government. Lucy Marstrand-Taussig, a transport planner in the UK, has commented that ‘we know new roads induce congestion and warn the planet’ (BBC News 18 August 2021, available: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56748346). What’s true in the UK is true for Ireland as well. More roads lead to more people on them, which leads to more driving and more emissions.
CSO figures from 2016 demonstrate that Cork needs investment in active travel infrastructure that makes active travel the attractive option for short trips. The figures from 2016 census show that the average commuting time in Cork city is 22 minutes and the average straight-line distance is 8.53km. With an electric bicycle (and even without one) 8.53km is an eminently cycle-able distance. But people need infrastructure in order to feel safe. Figures from the same census reveal that nationally the percentage of female drivers is increasing and that there is a startling gender gap in cycling. The figures are dated, but in 2016 there were roughly 40,000 men commuting by bicycle compared to 15,000 women. Delivery of safer infrastructure will make it attractive for women to cycle. The census data also reveals that there is an increase in cycling to work, particularly in the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets, in other words people in their prime working years that a growing economy’s like Cork’s would want to attract.
More specifically to the transport chapter, table 4.1 reproduces the sustainable transport modal shares from CMATS. CMATS addresses the Cork metropolitan region, which is much larger than the city. In more rural areas, the percentage of private car journeys would naturally be lower. In the city, they should be higher. Please introduce modal share targets that are specific for Cork city. Please be ambitious in these targets. 30% or even 35% should be achievable over the lifespan of this development plan.
Objective 4.95 describes mobility hubs and the great assistance they could provide for modal shift, a position I wholeheartedly support. The future location of mobility hubs are shown in the plans for Tivoli and the city docks, but it would be useful to know where the council is considering them in other areas of the city. Please add them to the mapped objectives.
Objective 4.123 regarding the Northern Distributor Road explains that a number of route options are emerging and will be discussed in the next stages of preparation of the development plan. Does this mean in the material amendments stage or in the next development plan? Will there be a free-standing public consultation on the Northern Distributor Road?