Politicians and planners face off over Mahon development

A major blueprint to guide the development of one of Cork’s busiest IT and retail hubs up to 2031 is in jeopardy because of a standoff between politicians and planners.

Furious city councillors are on a collision course with city management over the draft Mahon Local Area Plan.

Councillors will be asked at this evening’s council meeting to make variations to the city development plan to ensure that the Mahon plan can fit in with it.

However, they are expected to resist the changes after city manager Tim Lucey shot down all seven motions proposed by the council’s planning and development strategic policy committee which sought key changes to strategic elements of the draft local area plan.

The committee wanted to secure a “neighbourhood centre” zoning on Jacob’s Island, where planning has already been granted for a retail unit. The committee rejected crucial traffic reports and an ambitious city target to cut car usage in the Mahon area by almost half, and said any variations based on these reports would also be rejected.

The committee wanted to maintain the “residential, local services” zoning on Mahon Point’s overflow car park, and prevent development on the site pending all traffic improvements.

Instead, it said office development should take place on Jacob’s Island, with a five-storey office block replacing a nine-storey and a six-storey residential building which already have planning.

The committee also wanted proposals for a Bessboro Rd bridge taken out of the local area plan.

However, in a detailed report to be presented to the council, Mr Lucey will defend the local area plan as pro-development, and fully reflecting motions which have already been agreed by council.

He will insist that it is not legally possible to rezone land at this stage in the local area plan process, and that the traffic data is “factual”.

He will tell councillors Jacob’s Island is “not a sustainable location” for office development, has been zoned for residential and open space since 2004, and that placing offices there would increase traffic congestion. He will instead propose the rezoning of the overflow car park at Mahon Point for business and technology use.

Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill, a member of the planning committee, said councillors are seething about the way the process has been handled. He accused planners of effectively “ignoring” their suggestions and said he has serious doubts about whether the local area plan will be accepted.

“We’re not qualified town planners or engineers and so we asked the planners, in plain English, to amend certain things and include certain things,” said Mr Cahill.

“But they have just swamped us with technical reports and they didn’t do what we asked them to do.

“And tonight we’re going to be told it’s too late in the process to make any changes. It stinks.”