€600m BusConnects plan for Cork 'turning from a partnership into battleship' 

People urged to engage with public consultation process as Cork councillors warn of anger over plans to run bus corridors through nature areas

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said lots of elements of the plan could be incorporated without the need for compulsory purchase orders of the likes of front gardens, but that it would involve taking existing infrastructure such as roads and repurposing them, as a trade-off.

The €600m BusConnects plan for Cork is quickly "turning from a partnership into a battleship", as anger grows in communities at the proposed routes.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan had predicted the possible difficulties in ensuring community support when BusConnects was launched in April, saying it would involve difficult decisions requiring "political will" from local authorities to get over the line.

Mr Ryan said lots of elements of the plan could be incorporated without the need for compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) of the likes of front gardens, but that it would involve taking existing infrastructure such as roads and repurposing them, as a trade-off.

Cork city councillors and the National Transport Authority (NTA) met this week to discuss the plans, with the elected representatives warning of the growing disquiet and palpable anger. 

Map of the NTA's proposed 12 new sustainable transport corridors as part of the BusConnects Cork project.

In the Douglas area, for example, a proposed 20m-wide bridge over Ballybrack Woods from Donnybrook Hill to Maryborough Woods has brought residents out to protest meetings, as it would go through the beloved Mangala nature area.

Independent city councillor Kieran McCarthy said: "Sustainable transport is vital for Cork, but doing so in a way that achieves one goal while harming others like nature and biodiversity is just plain wrong. This has quickly turned from a partnership project with the NTA into a battleship, as people are rightly appalled at the proposals for the likes of the Mangala and Ballybrack. It would rip through the heart of nature, while we are in a biodiversity crisis."

Information evenings

Mr McCarthy said it was vital that people make their feelings known to the NTA by taking part in the public consultation process, such as information evenings in their local areas. 

The NTA has said there are six public information events across the city in the coming weeks. The public consultation for the 12 so-called "sustainable transport corridors" in Cork has been extended to October 3.

Mr McCarthy said hundreds have turned out in the Douglas area alone in recent days at various community meetings to voice their discontent at the plans. 

He said that "all 31 city councillors" had concerns when they met with the NTA engineers this week. 

"The NTA said compromises were there to be made and concerns could be taken into consideration, but it really shouldn't be up to the public to have to alert the NTA to the flaws in the plans," he said.

BusConnects Cork involves about 93km of bus lane and bus priority and 112km of cycle facilities across the city.