New unit to help deliver ambitious plans to transform Cork City's docklands area

The LDA is teaming up with the local authority to set up a Cork Docklands Delivery Office which will help facilitate the development programme

The Irish Examiner has reported that privately-run Kerry Airport will book the loss as part of an unusual €1.5m investment it took on an investment bond, which disastrously went wrong when markets crashed at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in March.

Plans to transform Cork City's docklands area have moved a step closer after the Land Development Agency and the City Council announced they are partnering to help deliver the ambitious, 20-year project.

The LDA - itself only in existence for two years - is teaming up with the local authority to set up a Cork Docklands Delivery Office which will help facilitate the development programme. 

It's envisaged there would be a mix of housing and supporting public infrastructure alongside a range of building by private developers, across 146ha of land that would ultimately accommodate 25,000, a workforce, and a student population of 3,700.

The new office will have up to 12 employees and a project lead position will be advertised in the coming days. 

Fearghal Reidy, Director of Strategic Economic Development at Cork City Council, said the Covid-19 pandemic should not stall the implementation of the plan.

"Yes, in the short term investors are looking at all options and the impact but I think in the long term investors will want to back places that are well-planned, resilient and attractive places to live in and work from," he said.

Funding 

Those behind the plan believe hundreds of millions of euro will be needed for the enabling infrastructure required, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks regarding funding from the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF).

Mr Reidy said: "We are hopeful [of the funding] and that's because the government aligned the National Planning Framework with the National Development Plan, and the docklands is mentioned in both."

He also admitted that Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) may be required, but would be used as a "last resort".

Phelim O'Neill, LDA head of property, said all stakeholders will be consulted, with hopes that the first new planning permission by a private developer will be sought next year. He said he hoped this would have a "domino effect" and cited areas such as Aarhus in Denmark as examples to follow.

"Confidence is everything," he said. "If you have the right circumstances and people who believe in the area, the location is second to none.

"All the constituent elements are there."