Mallow unveils ambitious plans to regenerate town’s historic core

Ambitious urban renewal plans for the historic core of a North Cork town have been unveiled.

Consultants overseeing the streetscape and urban regeneration project in Mallow briefed the public on the plans in the Hibernian Hotel last night.

They outlined their proposals for the first phase of the project, a €1.4m revamp focused on the lower part of Davis St, a project which aims to improve pedestrian, traffic, and parking management in and around the Clock House area.

Traffic flows will be changed, pedestrian access will be improved and an Italian-style plaza will be created outside the Clock House to serve as a new civic centre.

It will create what the town’s Sicilian-born architect Giulia Ballone described as the “town’s parlour”.

A statue of Mallow-born Young Ireland figure, Thomas Davis, gifted to the town council, will form an integral part of the square.

There are also plans to provide free public access to the internet in the area when the work is complete in late 2014 — in time for celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Davis’s birth.

Town mayor Cllr Noel O’Connor welcomed the start of the regeneration.

“I am delighted Mallow had the foresight to carry out, in the last few years, a transportation plan and a heritage plan because this streetscape project is encompassing the outcomes of these studies,” he said.

“It is important that in engaging in a regeneration project, there is sensitivity to the heritage of the area. But, on the other side, the town wants to make this area a welcoming part of Mallow.”

He hopes the regeneration, once complete, will reinvigorate the business life in the town.

“I also hope it will create a place where pedestrians feel safe and where those who might like to rest and take in the atmosphere can sit and watch the world go by,” he said.

Dublin-based company Roughan O’Donovan have been appointed the consulting engineers for the project.

Members of the public have now been invited to make observations on the scheme, and to make submissions to the engineering team.

Town clerk Liz Donovan said the observations will be taken into consideration before the scheme is officially advertised as a Part 8 planning process which should take eight weeks to complete.

Ms Donovan said once the Part 8 is approved, it is hoped to seek tenders for the work early next year.