Letters to the Editor: Response to plans at Bessborough

Fri, 20 Jan, 2023 - 02:00

We are responding to articles in The Irish Examiner this week regarding our planning application to develop a modern 92-unit apartment building at a site, zoned for residential use, at Bessborough in Blackrock, Co Cork, which will be decided by Cork City Council in the short term.

We are confident that the application for planning permission will be successful, because of the high quality of the application, which has a major focus on social and affordable housing and is guided by the core principles of sustainability and accessibility.

This proposal has been the subject of scrutiny in the media, as some opponents of the development have cited concerns over the possible location of human remains in the area, which forms part of the estate of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home.

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation reported that 923 children died while resident in Bessborough, but it was unable to conclude where the children were buried.

This marks a truly sad and shameful chapter in our history as a country.

We are fully aware of and sympathise with the concerns of survivors and their families.

It is for this reason that the company has sought advice from several independent experts, who have concluded that there is no evidence to suggest the existence of human remains at the site of this proposed development. Furthermore, this is the conclusion reached by every single credible expert opinion provided on the matter.

Archaeological testing of the site conducted in December 2019 found no features or remains in any test trenches excavated within the proposed development.

We have sought to engage with survivor groups on this project every step of the way, and have made several overtures to them, seeking engagement, without success.

This site is one part of a former estate covering approximately 200 acres. Many other developments — housing, offices, roads, a shopping centre — have been built on the lands without controversy.

Recently, two planning applications at the Bessborough estate have succeeded and are proceeding without objection, one of these adjoins our site and the other is located to the north-west of the estate.

Indeed, in November 2021, Cork City Council granted planning permission for a new single storey detached classroom adjoining our lands in Bessborough unabated.

This development will provide affordable housing for people living and working close to Cork City, for which there is a direct, urgent need as our local population continues to grow rapidly.

We will invest approximately €40m in the project resulting in the creation of up to 200 jobs in the construction phase.

The development will include 43 one-bed units, 30 two-bed units, and 18 three-bed units and the intention is for most or all of these units to be used for social and affordable housing.

It will also include a creche with capacity for 25 children, parking facilities, and bike storage together with new pedestrian and cyclist entrances onto the upgraded Cork Passage Railway Greenway.

Our partners on this project are leading, reputable firms, many of which are based in Cork, with considerable expertise in engineering, architecture, and all other key aspects of the development process.

This development is being designed with all of the features, amenities and benefits expected of a modern residential development and the planning application has been meticulously prepared, in order to accommodate a range of views on the location of the development.

While we completely understand the sensitive nature of this issue, and the concerns that have been expressed about this development, if the decision of Cork City Council on this issue is based on facts and the merits of this project, we believe it should be allowed to proceed.

Declan Harrington,

Managing Director, PFS Private

Motorists already pay enough to use the roads

With regard to the article ‘Charging for use of entire road network being considered by TII’ (Irish Examiner, online, January 12), doesn’t the motorist already pay enough to use the roads between motor tax and tolls?

We are in a cost-of-living crisis but here they go and put more of a strain on the motoring public.

My wife drives 60 miles for work — each way — doing a 12-hour shift in a hospital on the front line.

‘A road network that is able to get us as easily as possible in and out of work in order to make money for our taxes should be a basic right.’ Picture: Denis Minihane

If they bring in charges to use the road, she will still have to pay her motor tax and car insurance.

At this rate of going she will have to give up her job as she wouldn’t be able to afford to go to it.

Joseph Lonergan

Mallow

Cork

Modest measures on details of alcohol

There has been media coverage this week about government regulations for health information on alcohol products. Much of this centred on the somewhat hysterical views of the alcohol industry which have termed these measures ‘dangerous’ and ‘terrifying’.

The regulations are modest measures giving details of calories, alcohol content, warnings about drinking in pregnancy, facts about cancer and liver disease, plus a link to a government public health website. Seventy-two per cent of the public support these measures which were proposed more than a decade ago.

They were extensively debated in the Oireachtas, democratically mandated in 2018, and have been through EU consultation processes twice. Even when implemented there will be a three-year phasing in period.

Consumers have a right to know about the health risks of products they are considering purchasing. Recently alcohol advertisements in Ireland are carrying a strapline, ‘Get the Facts’. However, it seems that vested interests would prefer consumers to have marketing myths rather than clear information.

Sheila Gilheany CEO, Alcohol Action Ireland

Road safety for e-scooter users

At a recent Cork County Council meeting, concerns were expressed with regard to e-scooters and e-bikes.

Invariably, these e-scooters and e-bikes are black in colour and their riders dressed in black, with listening devices covering their ears.

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Against a backdrop of intense winter sun, it is virtually impossible for them to be seen by other road users, especially those driving buses, lorries, or cars.

Would it be possible to insist that all e-bike users be made to wear at least a yellow jacket or top, and refrain from covering their ears?

To be seen is of paramount importance on our roads that such a recommendation could, and probably should, be extended to motorised wheelchairs, pedal cyclist, runners, joggers, walkers, and horse riders. One can encounter them all on our local roads.

Joe Burns

Monkstown

Co Cork

Food system is harming the planet

In November at Cop27, Micheál Martin delivered an impassioned speech. He spoke about his aspirations for a sustainable planet with an abundance of plant and animal life, cleaner air and water.

He finished by saying: “This generation of leaders cannot say they didn’t know.” Just a week or two after that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced a new trade deal for Irish beef to China.

A deal to supply beef to a country of 1.4bn people means more cattle, more emissions, more biodiversity loss, and more animal suffering.

The environmental impact of beef is enormous. This is not ’feeding the world’.

This is a financial deal between two affluent well-fed countries. We must accept that our food production system is harming the planet.

Joan Burgess

Friars Walk

Cork City