Council criticises Titanic pier plan for Cobh

Cork County Council has criticised a planning application for a €500,000 upgrade to ‘Heartbreak Pier,’ the derelict structure from which a million emigrants, including 123 who boarded the Titanic, departed Cobh for new lives in the UK, America, and Australia.

Last November, Titanic Experience, which owns the structure, sought planning for a pedestrian walkway and viewing platform over the 150-year-old wooden pier, with sail-style canopies and associated conservation works.

The plans also proposed a kiosk and turnstile, on the adjacent promenade, as a ticket office and walkway entrance.

The planning application attracted several concerns, including a submission from the Department of Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht.

The Great Island Historic Preservation Group (GIHPG), which was formed to resist the application, submitted a Facebook petition that garnered 250 names in two days, including some from outside Ireland.

Detailing 16 requests for further information, a council report has expressed concern as to “what the actual finished product will be” and its visual impact.

Heartbreak Pier

The council wants “a detailed visual impact assessment”, with photomontages from strategic locations, such as Cobh Cathedral and Kennedy Park, a more detailed archaeological and historical background assessment, and an underwater archaeology survey and impact statement.

The authority questions “the concept of sails” and its relevance to Titanic and advises that input be sought from a conservation architect. The report questions the need for the walkway, as against access from the rear of Titanic Experience.

The council notes that “some elements of the proposed works fall within designated flood-risk zones” and requests a flood-risk assessment report.

Criticising the proposed kiosk and turnstiles, the report advises they be “entirely revised” to reflect a higher quality that “enhances and contributes positively to the architectural conservation area and setting of adjoining protected structures.”

The council wants the turnstiles “omitted entirely” and the kiosk reduced in size and located “within the confines of the existing site”, along the seafront/public park. The report also requests the applicant to detail how the development “will interact with existing community uses in the park, such as regattas, recreation events, and farmers’ markets”.

The applicant has six months to respond to the report. The GIHPG will hold a public meeting in March, on a date to be decided.