Cork County Council considering 30 hotel resort planning applications

CORK County Council is currently examining planning applications for 30 multi-million euro hotel/golf resorts, county manager Maurice Moloney disclosed yesterday.

Most were received just before last Christmas as developers met the January 31, 2004 closing date for tax break requirements.

While he did not list the hotel/leisure developments and their locations, he said most would probably be approved.

However, the hotel resort planning applications were only a fraction of the 9,789 applications received in 2004. Mr Moloney pointed out that this figure was twice the annual number of appeals handled by Bord Pleanala nationally and 4,000 more than that handled by Dublin City Council.

Highlighting the complexity and geographical spread of Ireland’s largest county, he said the value of Council’s fixed assets amounted to €5.7 billion, while its workforce numbered 2,700.

Other vital statistics included:

* Population of Cork city and county: 450,000.

* Population of the county: 324,000.

* Area of county: 740,000 hectares (1/8 of Republic - including seven occupied islands).

* Coastline: 1,100 km.

* Road network: 12,000 km (14% of National total).

* Expenditure by Cork County Council: Revenue €255 million; Capital €296m.

* Excluding Dublin City Council, revenue expenditure in the county exceeds that of the next nearest Local Authority by about €70m.

* Contribution in VAT, PRSI to Exchequer €80m.

Mr Moloney said Cork County is seen by the IDA as a very good location for foreign direct investment as evidenced by the fact that there are 11,700 jobs in IDA assisted companies in the county.

“This does not happen by accident - Council staff are involved with the IDA in assisting companies who wish to set up business here,” he said.

“Long before the Celtic Tiger really arrived, the Council was encouraging the development of business parks around the City. Thus we have Eastgate, Euro Business Park at Little Island, Airport Business Park, Owenacurra Business Park in Midleton, University Technology Centre at Curraheen, and West Cork Technology Park at Clonakilty,” Mr Moloney said, speaking at the April Cork Chamber of Commerce monthly business breakfast briefing organised in association with the Irish Examiner.