Cork plans for thousands of new homes and jobs, despite pandemic and Brexit pressures
From left: director of services for planning at Cork County Council, Michael Lynch; mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley; chief executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey; and Padraig Moore, senior planner, Cork County Council. Picture: Brian Lougheed
The new vision set out for Cork county anticipates 61,000 new people and more than 29,000 new homes, while targeting 36,500 new jobs using 2,000 hectares of land – albeit with the full effects of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic yet to be realised.
Cork County Council said its draft county development plan was prepared in anticipation of the "ambitious population and employment targets" set out in the previous Government's €116bn Project Ireland package to develop the country's social and economic infrastructure up to 2040.
Chief executive of the local authority Tim Lucey said the draft plan provides an "ambitious and balanced vision for the future of the county up to 2028".
It plans for population growth of 61,000 and enabling the orderly delivery of 29,300 housing units and supporting commercial and social services, he said.
The population growth and necessary housing units will be delivered across the whole of Cork, Mr Lucey added.
They will be at "appropriate locations" in metropolitan Cork, the ring of the county, as well as towns, key villages, and rural areas to deliver sustainable growth in rural and urban communities, according to the chief executive.
"Also, critically the draft plan sets out to deliver employment-led growth by delivering 36,500 jobs in rural and urban areas, and in this context has identified over 2,000 hectares of employment lands," he said.
The draft plan documents warns the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic remain to be seen.
"The impacts of Brexit will only become apparent over the lifetime of the plan. While there will be negative impacts, there will also be opportunities created in areas such as logistics and distribution, which Cork will be well placed to take advantage of."
The plan claims there will also be opportunities for Cork Harbour "given potential difficulties with the land bridge" and Cork being the closest port to Continental Europe.
The pandemic has made the plan preparation much more challenging, according to the draft.
"It has also had an impact on accelerating existing trends such as move to online shopping and starting new ones such as remote working. It has also emphasised the importance of the provision of recreational amenities across the county.
"It has intensified the efforts to regenerate and renew our town centres. While it is too early to assess the long-term impacts of these trends, it is important to continue monitoring them and adjusting policies as required over the plan period."
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