Have your say in the new county development plan

CORK County Council has invited members of the public to have their say in the development of Cork County over the coming years.

The authority will this week take the first steps in the preparation of its County Development Plan (2021-2027) with the publication of a public consultation document highlighting the a range of ideas they believe the new plan will need to take into consideration.

The new plan will be the first for the new administrative area of the county following the extension of the city boundary. It will include all the settlements replacing the eight current Municipal District Local Area Plans and the development plans of the former Town Councils.

The Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Christopher O ‘Sullivan, said the Council was aiming to engage as many people as possible in the early stages of the plan-making process in order to give them “every opportunity to influence the polices that shape their communities.”

“The next plan will focus on revitalising our towns and villages, making them attractive and vibrant places to live and affording people the opportunity to live closer to where they work. The Plan will show how best this can be achieved while safeguarding our environment and protecting the natural and cultural assets that make our county unique,” said Mayor O’Sullivan.

The consultation document covers a wide range of topics including rural housing, water services, transport/mobility, heritage, tourism, climate change and the environment. A suite of background documents relating to some of these issues are available to view on the Council’s website at www.corkcoco.ie.

The authority will also host a series of public information meetings across the county over the coming weeks, at which individuals and community groups will be given the opportunity to meet with Council planning staff and discuss the issues they feel to be most important to their localities.

Written submissions in relation to the proposed plan can be made online or in hard copy by February 13, 2020.

Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey said there were “significant opportunities” open to Cork County in terms of the population and jobs targets set out in the national and regional strategy documents.

“We want to ensure that we have the enabling infrastructure in place to capitalise on these ambitious targets. Our track record shows we can deliver growth and we want to continue to ensure that our plans achieve the greatest social, environmental and economic dividend they can for the entire county,” said Mr Lucey.

“We have produced a user friendly document that we hope will engage people and get them thinking about what we can do to improve their neighbourhood and maintain and enhance their quality of life, and I would encourage people to share those views with us,” he added.

Further details on the public consultation document, associated background documents and public consultation events will be available on the Council’s website from this Friday at www. corkcoco.ie/en/Cork- County-Development-Plan-2021-2027.