Cork City Council is poised to go on a PR offensive amid ongoing controversy over the city boundary extension.

The first draft of an enlarged Cork City to drive the region’s growth for the next half century should emerge within weeks.

The lord mayor of Cork has written to the new minister for local government urging him to start the process of extending the city’s boundary in line with the recommendations of an expert review group.

The minister for local government has said he hopes to get political consensus on a new report he intends publishing within weeks which will shape the future of local government arrangements in Cork for the next 50 years.

The expert group charged with reviewing Cork’s local government will have access to all documents compiled by the committee that recommended the controversial merger of the city and county councils.

The former president of the Cork Business Association has broken ranks with the group to welcome the proposed merger of Cork’s city and county councils, which is now the focus of a major legal challenge.

EARLIER this week the Smiddy report was published and — unsurprisingly — it supported the expressed views of Environment Minister Alan Kelly by recommending, by the narrowest possible margin, that Cork City and County Councils be amalgamated.

William Brady, Jonathan Hall, and Brendan O’Sullivan of UCC’s planning department raise serious concerns after reading the Smiddy report favouring the merger of Cork city and county councils

The Smiddy report on the amalgamation of the two local authorities in Cork has recommended the ratio of councillors to constituents be altered, especially in West Cork where their number has been reduced but the area of representation significantly increased.

THAT the report from a five-person committee asked to consider the amalgamation of Cork city and county councils submitted to Environment Minister Alan Kelly last week was adopted by the narrowest possible margin is not at all surprising. Indeed, any other outcome would have been entirely unexpected.

A possible merger of Cork city and county council into a single, unified super-council is being considered as part of the landmark review of the region’s local government structures.

There is almost universal support for the creation of a much larger metropolitan Cork region, the consultant overseeing the review of the region’s local government structures has said.

A war of words has erupted between Cork city and county councils during the review of the region’s local government structures after city claims it has identified a €5m error in county figures.

An expert in local government has warned against the merging of Cork city and county councils.