BusConnects proposal to turn ancient Cork walled garden into a car park

Members of Beaumont Residents’ Association believed they were nearing the end of negotiations to restore Beaumont walled garden's horticultural use as a community garden

 Members of the public opposed to the plans for a carpark at the site are urged to make a submission via busconnects.ie Pic; Larry Cummins

Residents in the Cork suburb of Blackrock have been angered by a BusConnects proposal to turn an 18th-century walled garden, that they hoped to use as a community garden, into a car park.

The two-acre Beaumont walled garden, which contains Cherrington Reservoir, once supplied food to the Beamish brewing family at Beaumont House before the house’s destruction in the 1920s. 

Members of Beaumont Residents’ Association believed they were nearing the end of negotiations with Cork City Council to restore its horticultural use as a community garden.

However, the second draft of the National Transport Authority’s BusConnects plans for the Mahon – City Sustainable Transport Corridor, released in mid-March, shows the walled garden as a “potential location for replacement parking” that would be lost along Churchyard Lane with the addition of a one-way bus lane and a cycle lane.

The Bus Connects plan shows the walled garden as a 'potential location for replacement parking' that would be lost along Churchyard Lane with the addition of bus and cycle lanes. 

The land is owned by the Water Department of Cork City Council. Up until January 2023, Water Department staff had liaised with Jo Goodyear, a local environmental consultant and member of Beaumont Residents' Association, who was spearheading attempts to develop a community garden on the site.

The group had even received AXA Parks funding of €6,000 to clear the space and install polytunnels.

However, in January Ms Goodyear was told that the National Transport Authority was expressing an interest in turning the site into a car park. This was not confirmed until the NTA’s second round of maps was published in March. Speaking at the walled garden, where a group of concerned residents gathered, Ms Goodyear said the news was frustrating.

“Beaumont lacks any community facilities,” she said.

 

This would be a wonderful resource: It is ideal, not only because of the amazing rich soil retained in the walled garden, but it’s also lockable and secure.

The overgrown garden retains fruit trees including apples, pears, and cherries, and is home to a roosting colony of common pipistrelle bats. Residents planned to re-purpose the 1960s reservoir building at its centre, which is now drained, for community use.

The entrance to the walled garden at Beaumont, via a gate on a laneway beside Ballinlough Pitch & Putt Club. Picture: Larry Cummins

Cork City Council told the Irish Examiner  that any plan for a community garden on council land would have to undergo a disposal arrangement and that this had not happened.

“Disposal of the land would be considered in the context of other uses for the site and other suitable locations for a community garden,” a council press representative said. “It may be possible to explore other alternative sites for a community garden in the area.” 

Residents expressed concerns about breaching the historic garden walls for vehicle access, biodiversity loss, and attracting more cars to the area by turning into a “de facto park and ride” for Páirc Uí Caoimh and the city centre.

However, Cork Constitution Rugby Club is one of several organisations nearby that say they will be hard hit by the loss of on-street parking in the BusConnects plan.

“We are adjacent to Páirc Uí Rinn and O'Connor’s funeral home and the current parking is on the street,” David Cagney of the Cork Con management committee said.

On Saturday mornings, we have over 300 kids from six up and their parents are expected to stay while they train. The loss of parking would place a stranglehold on the club.

He said Cork Con’s management was “very much” in favour of any form of off-street parking to replace that which would be lost in the transport plan.