Councillors warn of gridlock in proposed town
County councillors expressed concern yesterday at news that the NRA does not want to provide a direct link to the planned 5,000-house town of Monard, near Blarney.
The NRA said connecting it to the ring road would “create safety and operational problems” and claimed the council hadn’t demonstrated that traffic coming from the town was “strategic”.
County manager Martin Riordan said the Monard blueprint was now complete and would soon be sent to An Bord Pleanála for approval as a special development zone (SDZ) — the first of its type outside Dublin.
He maintained that if approval was granted, it would have the full backing of the Government and it was critical that Monard be properly connected to the Northern Ring Road and a commuter rail service.
“We plan what is good for Cork. We know Cork best and we’re been at this (Monard plan) for many years. We should be let get on with it. It’s critical to the success of this SDZ that we have a junction,” Mr Riordan said.
Several councillors echoed his sentiments, changing the wording in the blueprint to point to the necessity of the junction connection.
Mr Riordan said it was important to plan now for the future when the economy gets healthier and there is more demand for houses, especially in the Cork metropolitan area.
He said he didn’t envisage any development at the site in the near future and the benefits of forward planning were unlikely to be seen until the next 15-20 years.
Cllr Pat Burton (FG) said he viewed Monard “as a pioneering initiative” that would succeed.
He said the NRA provided junctions to all major settlements on the South Ring Road and he didn’t want to see people on the northside of the city being treated differently.
“We must hope An Bord Pleanála see the light on this. It should be strategically critical to Monard, we don’t want to create a second-class town,” Mr Burton said.
Cllr Gerry Kelly (FG) said a junction connection was strategically critical. “The NRA weren’t going to give a motorway connection to Buttevant, but then they changed their mind. So they could do so again,” he said.
Mr Kelly and Mr Burton both said they were concerned the new town, which is on an elevated site, could have a flood impact on adjoining settlements at lower levels.
Mr Burton said he “was not comfortable” that sufficient safeguards were in place to prevent that happening, although council officials said they would be.
Cllr Noel Costello (Lab) voiced concern that if Monard became a priority development then Blarney and Bally-volane might lose out to expansion.