City plan is not socially inclusive

IT’S been reported that the public consultation process for the largest ever building project in Cork city — the South Docklands Development plan — has only attracted about 80 submissions from the public.

This from a population of 120,000, of whom at least 40,000 must be adults. This is very disappointing.

Even more disappointing is the fact that there were so few public submissions even though there are 5,500 people on the social and affordable housing list, and that this development, despite its size, only provides 1,305 affordable housing units and a miserly 435 units for social housing out of a total of 8,700 housing units.

The city council claims that 90% of the public submissions were positive. Well, my submission to the Cork Docks Development Office was confined to a small part of the plan and was critical of it.

In the public consultation leaflet issued by the city council planning department, the importance of a diverse social composition in the development is mentioned. This is in line with the Government policy of encouraging social integration.

Indeed, it is obvious that for a proposed development of this size, it is vital to have a mix of social classes, and this has to be reflected in the types of property available.

To achieve this there have to be equal amounts of social, affordable and private housing, with the majority of housing in all categories built to accommodate families. The plan cannot possibly achieve anywhere near this. There are 8,700 units of housing proposed in the plan — mostly apartments which would be unsuitable for families unless they were predominately low-rise with gardens. The small number of units to be provided for affordable and social housing make it impossible to create a diverse, let alone a socially integrated, community.

What the development will give the city, in effect, is a gated community with a predominance of private housing which will be out of reach of those who are on the social an affordable list.

If the plan is to meet both its own and the Government’s objectives, then the city council must drastically increase the amount of affordable and social housing in the South Docks development — and in the North Dockland development, too, for that matter.

As to the proposed conference centre, I read that the city manager wants to provide €8 million for it with the private developer coming up with the rest.

Apparently the public, who are expected to pay for the €8 million contribution, will receive repayment in the form of the extra business this centre might generate. In short, you have an actual payment by the taxpayer and only a theoretical repayment, most of which would go to city businessmen anyway.

This is enough to discredit the city manager’s proposal, and it should not form part of the South Docks development. Far better to build something that will benefit not only the whole community, but also the public of Cork city as a whole. I would suggest an Olympic-size swimming pool and sports centre.

Brian Abbott

Glencairn

Bishopstown Road

Cork