Super-park ‘will make city one of the best for recreation’
That’s according to Independent Cllr Mick Finn who said fears about crowd and traffic management problems can be overcome.
He was reacting yesterday after councillors signed off on a draft masterplan for Marina Park which incorporates GAA plans for a major stadium overhaul and the development of a centre of excellence nearby. The draft masterplan document is going out for public consultation for four weeks.
“The public park development will not go ahead if the GAA project falls and Cork will lose out on the double,” Mr Finn said.
“Problems, with traffic and parking on match or event days, which are the main bases for objection by residents, can and will be overcome.
“That, I’m sure, will be the GAA’s commitment to the project.
“It’s a win-win situation that the majority of people in the city and county — if not the immediate area — support and want.”
A residents’ umbrella group opposed to the location of the centre of excellence as well as an all-weather pitch criticised the process which had led to the masterplan.
It was due to go out for public consultation last December but was deferred pending clarification on several design issues.
The Ballintemple Area Residents Association said it is “dismayed” at how the entire process has been handled.
“The whole redrafting process to satisfy the GAA stinks of the sort of cronyism that we had all hoped had gone the way of the planning tribunals when developers held sway over councils to the detriment of the wider community,” a spokesman said.
“The 150-plus objections from the surrounding community to the initial rezoning process in 2012 also fell on deaf ears, with the city manager preferring to keep the county board happy over the people who pay his wages — the people of Cork.”
They said parking problems remain a major issue in the area on big-match days.
“We are still being besieged in our community by visiting fans who are forced to drive into the cul-de-sac of Blackrock/Ballintemple for matches in the absence of anything resembling a coherent traffic plan by the GAA, the city council, and the gardaí,” the spokesman said.
“We have always been pro-sport, pro-GAA, and pro-community.
“We have, in our meetings to date, always sought compromise with all the stakeholders but it looks like it’s my way or the highway with the GAA on everything to do with the redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh.”
City manager Tim Lucey has insisted that the GAA has made several compromises to get the project to this stage.
He said a comprehensive traffic management and mobility plan will be a central element of any planning application that may be lodged for the stadium project.
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