Boundary plan ‘like a child’s scribble on map’
Cllr Declan Hurley said, in his opinion, whoever sketched the boundary line — enveloping Cork Airport, Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire, Little Island, and Carrigtwohill — in the report “has little or no knowledge of the geography of Cork”.
He said it was a matter of complete wonder to him how anyone could believe the proposal would, in reality, work.
Mr Hurley said that if Ballincollig area was ceded to the city, its community groups would be denied access to LEADER funding.
“For residents and farmers in Carrigtwohill to be regarded as city dwellers is nothing short of a joke. Except that this is no joking matter. For businesses in Blarney to become city ratepayers is ridiculous. It’s simply madness.”
Mr Hurley said the Mackinnon report has had little regard to its own terms of reference in relation to service delivery or financial and resource implications.
“To proceed with implementation of this proposed boundary in the complete absence of such assessment is nothing short of reckless.”
He claimed that most people do not realise that, if implemented, the plan provides for Cork City to be more than double the physical size of Dublin City.
“How crazy is that? Dublin the capital, Cork the second city and yet Cork (City Council) would be two-and-a-half times larger than Dublin (City Council) geographically. In fact, the population density in Dublin would be six times greater than that of Cork. There is no sense or meaning to that.”
Meanwhile, Cork County Muintir na Tire, a community development organisation, suggested the Public Participation Network groups linked with City Hall and County Hall must emphasise dialogue and negotiation are urgently needed to come to a consensus as to what is best for both the city and county.
Its spokesman Denis Kelly said: “We need strength and unity in Cork, we need dialogue and discussion but most of all we need hope for the future of both city and county.”
