Port lodges application for €190m terminal
The Port of Cork’s ambitious project on a 76-hectare (190-acre) site at Oyster Bank in Ringaskiddy, which includes a vast 18-hectare (45-acre) reclamation operation, was described last night as crucial to meet future traffic and cargo demand and boost port capacity.
The application is also seen as a significant step forward in the port’s plans to relocate its entire city centre operations downstream.
However, the Oyster Bank project is likely to face bitter opposition from harbour residents who have united to fight the plans.
The application will be lodged directly with An Bord Pleanála under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 — a new system to fast-track large and critical infrastructure projects through the planning process.
The port is seeking permission to demolish the existing public pier and slipway at Ringaskiddy and build a container terminal and a multi-purpose roll-on roll-off berth.
About 18 hectares of land will be reclaimed from the sea to provide the container terminal’s working area.
A replacement public pier and slipway will be built to the east of the National Maritime College of Ireland site.
A two-storey administration building, a maintenance building, container handling cranes and terminal transport equipment will also be built.
There are plans to dredge substantial seabed material for this element of the project.
Work on the roll-on roll-off berth will include the construction of 269 metres of quay wall and deck, the surfacing of existing port lands to provide extra storage space and the installation of floating steel pontoons to facilitate this kind of port traffic.
The proposed development will be accessed by a new road from the N28.
Significant landscaping works and improvements to the local road network are also planned.
The public will have until January 28, 2008, to comment and a decision from An Bord Pleanála is expected within 28 weeks.
A detailed environmental impact statement has been prepared and it, along with the planning application, will be available to download from this morning from a dedicated website, www.oysterbankplanning.ie.
They will also be available for inspection or for purchase at the offices of An Bord Pleanála in Dublin and from County Hall, Cork.
Port officials said the new facility is essential to facilitate future traffic growth.
The company’s Tivoli container facility reached its maximum capacity of 180,000 20ft equivalent units in 2006, four years earlier than expected.
The value of trade passing through the Port of Cork was valued at €13 billion in 2004, with its contribution to the Irish economy averaging about €26 million.
The port held its first round of public consultations in relation to the Oyster Bank project in 2005, and another round in June 2007 before finalising today’s application.
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