Cork town 'which has gone through hell' set for multimillion-euro facelift 

But regeneration works come at a price as project will see Bandon lose a lot on on-street parking spaces

Junction of Main and Bridge streets, Bandon, Cork, following severe flooding recently. Picture:  Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

Millions of euro is to be spent on regenerating a Co Cork town “which has gone through hell in recent years” due to flooding, major flood prevention works, and the upgrade of its sewers and sewage treatment plant.

County councillors have approved the plan by the local authority for a major upgrade of streetscapes in Bandon, but there is one snag: the project will result in the removal of a lot of on-street parking spaces.

The council will carry out street enhancement works along Glasslyn Road, west of the roundabout with the N71; at St Finbarr’s Place, Oliver Plunkett Street, Brady’s Lane, St Patrick’s Place, New Road, Market Street, Ballymodan Place, South Main Street, Pearse Street, Bridge Street, Bridge Lane, MacSwiney Quay and Weir Street.

Councillors have welcomed the plan, but called on their officials to ensure that extra off-street parking is created as near to the town centre as possible.

Significant project

“This is an extremely significant project for Bandon after 10 years of upheaval,” Independent councillor Alan Coleman said.

“The local authority is to spend a huge amount of money on public realm works. But it comes at a price because of the removal of a lot of on-street parking to facilitate this. This regeneration will make Bandon a centre of retail excellence, but we will need to find more off-street parking close to the town centre,” Mr Coleman said.

Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy, who is chairman of the Bandon/Kinsale Municipal District Council, said the town badly needed the project “as it gone through hell over the last few years" with the upheaval caused by flooding, the creation of flood relief works, and upgrade of sewers and the sewage treatment plant.

The flood defence and sewerage works are now completed so the regeneration project can now proceed.

“There will be some really decent streetscapes in place when this is done,” Mr Murphy said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Sean O'Donovan said,

“The removal of the parking spaces is a big issue and I hope it will be resolved. Millions of euro will be spent on upgrading streetscapes, which is very welcome.”

Council officials said there had been a lot of engagement on the plans during the public consultation phase.

The plans for Ballymodan Place and South Main Street attracted over 6,000 views across various social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube (Cork County Council & AECOM digital) & LinkedIn. There were a further 3,120 views of the virtual exhibition website and an artist's impressions of Bridge Street, Glasslyn Road and Market Street got 2,000 views.

Officials said this demonstrates very high levels of engagement with the project, given that the population of Bandon is approximately 7,000.

A total of 41 submissions were received by the closing date for public consultation last month. These consisted of 31 submissions from the public and 10 submissions from statutory and non-statutory consultees.