corcaighboy

saw this in today’s Irish Independent….would obviously agree that some sort of tram system would be beneficial. But someone should tell him that his proposed Cork-Midleton rail link is in advanced planning.

Cork needs LUAS system to combat congestion
15:14 Monday December 11th 2006

The Green Party today unveiled proposals for a new light tram system like the LUAS for Cork City.

Green leader Trevor Sargent said badly needed transport projects like the Macroom by-pass have been ignored in Cork because they are not Transport 21 projects.

He said Cork City needed a LUAS to combat traffic congestion.

He also proposed a Cork Harbour water bus service and the re-opening of the Midleton to Cork railway line.

@Tuborg wrote:

Whatever about cosmetic surgery, i think that building(Hilton) is going to need some serious maintenance in the years ahead especially considering the speed of construction, which only started in December last year. The hotel is scheduled to open in January, after just over 1 year of construction! Im no expert but surely this cant be right for a project of this size!, obviously the Hilton group are mad to open up! Will it be a phased opening or will all the facilities open in January?.. i wonder did they originally target a Christmas opening?

Jury’s hotel in Cork (basically an identical project) took 18 months to complete and they stumbled over the finishing line, 1 year seems crazy!

Probably has to open by then to qualify for any tax incentives. Seems a tight enough schedule alright, but they may well only open a portion of it by then so as to meet any qualification deadlines imposed by the revenue.

Some news in the Irish Examiner today re new developments in the Cork area. May be of interest to some readers here. Does anyone know if the 6 storey motor tax office building next to County Hall was part of the original redevelopment plans?

Green light for 204-house development

By Sean O’Riordan
PLANNING permission was granted yesterday by Cork County Council for a 204-house development in Crosshaven, while an application was received for an equally large development in Castlemartyr.

O’Flynn Construction was given the green light for the mixed development at Knocknagore, Crosshaven. The company intends to construct 56 three-bed terraced homes, 59 two-bed terraced homes, 62 four-bed detached houses and 26 four-bed terraced homes.

Limerick-based Chieftain Construction has lodged an application for 200 houses, a cr

This looks great. For once there is something that delivers on its early promise and resembles the architect’s renderings. Will definitely add a bit of light and colour to the docklands. 🙂

AIdan – You made some very good points, especially in relation to exchequer funding and public transport being the preserve of semi-state monopolies (monoliths!). One of the key problems for the City Council, and one which negatively impacts everything from planning to public transport, is the fact that city boundaries have not changed in decades and as a result many of the surburbs are now outside their remit and under the juristiction of the county council. This applies to all our cities (with Dublin having three councils to contend with). Leads to many instances of one hand not knowing what the other is doing.

This is from today’s Examiner and it makes interesting reading for several reasons. Firstly, this E139m investment number is the first I have heard of it. It sounds impressive, but I would love to know what exactly it includes since the only major investment is the reopening of the Glounthaune to Midleton line. Surely the line reopening and ancillary works don’t add up to 139m. I know it includes work on other stations, but as far as I know, the railcars will be cast offs from the Arrow network.
Secondly, what bridge built on stilts are they talking about?
And thirdly, one has to love the part about the bees! Methinks the only bees who sting in Cork are the elected representatives…..

Iarnród Éireann plans closure of three level crossings in rail plan

By Seán O’Riordan
CLOSURE of three level crossings and their replacement with a large bridge are planned by Iarnród Eireann under the company’s proposed €139 million new rail network for Cork.

Day two of a the inquiry into the proposed Euro 139 commuter rail upgrade for Cork, heard Iarnród Eireann officials state they wanted to close the level crossings on the Lower Glanmire Road for safety reasons, especially as more trains will be using that section of track when the Midleton line reopens in July 2008.

Objections have been made to the closures by residents in Myrtle Hill Terrace, Bellevue and Woodside Villas who use the crossings to access their homes. Their legal representatives are expected to outline their case tomorrow at the hearing which is taking place in Midleton ParkHotel.

Conor McGuinness, a senior projects manager with Iarnród Eireann, provided the chairman of the inquiry, Pat Buckley SC, with a letter from Mary Molloy, principal inspector with the Railway Safety Commission, which suggested the three crossings be closed.

Mark Kilcullen, a consultant engineer, showed the hearing computer-generated pictures of the steel-arched bridge which Iarnród Eireann is proposing to build across the railway line. Part of it will be pile-drived into the bed of the River Lee.

Andrew Hinds, vice-president of Irish Planning Institute and a senior executive planner with Cork County Council, said the railway project would sustain major population growth.

He said it was vital that part of the Midleton Northern Relief Road — from the Cork Road to Mill Road — be completed in advance of the reopening of the town’s railway station, otherwise serious traffic congestion could result for commuters.

Mr Hinds added that a site had also been reserved for a second railway station to the western side of the town, near Waterrock, if it was needed in future years to serve land which had been zoned in that area for more than 2,500 houses.

Michael Woulfe, who owns Railway House in Midleton, which is right next to the station, said he was in favour of its reopening, but expressed one rather unusual concern.

As semi-commercial beekeeper, Mr Woulfe runs a honey extracting operation at his home and was worried that some bees could escape and sting commuters.

He said he would be able to move his operation to another area, but requested some compensation from Iarnród Eireann for doing so.

Blandcrest and Gable Holdings, which have planning permission for 1,600 houses in Carrigtwohill, expressed concern that Iarnród Eireann was seeking to take away some of their land for an access road. Brian Archer who was representing the developers said this would mean they would be unable to build 34 houses.

Chris White an expert involved in station planning in the UK, who was acting on behalf of Blackpool Developments, claimed that the station in Midleton was being built in the wrong place. He said it should not be built on its former site east of Mill Road. He said the western side was a better option as that was where most of the new housing development would go.

Somewhat off-topic, but I liked these shots of the Opera House and the new apartment development on the opposite quay (Camden Wharf I believe, but please correct me if wrong). I know we have discussed the apartment building in detail here before, but I thought this photo would put it in some context as to its architectural merits or otherwise. The Opera House facade is a significant improvement on what was there before.

And this photo shows the Opera House and behind it the Crawford Art Gallery & School of Art. One of my favourite buildings in Cork.

Given that there has been much discussion in this thread about ‘temporary’ signage on shopfronts, I thought the following article might be of interest. At the very least, good to see the issue getting some publicity.

The Sunday Times September 24, 2006

An Taisce in war on lurid shopfronts
Colin Coyle

THEY style themselves as shops “designed for the way we live today” but An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, has claimed that the “increasingly brash and lurid” shopfronts of convenience stores are destroying the fabric of Dublin.
The planning watchdog has filed documents with the city council claiming that Spar, Centra and Londis “are showing an increasing contempt and disregard for planning laws and requirements”, and that their obtrusive, gaudy facades are ruining the capital’s historic streetscapes.

Kevin Duff, a spokesman for An Taisce, says Centra and Spar are the chief offenders. “These shops are openly flouting planning regulations and there is now a significant level of unauthorised development and non-compliance with planning authority decisions in Dublin, where a new convenience store seemingly opens on a weekly basis,” he said.

“We’ve identified at least 20 examples of these stores disregarding planning regulations. The city council is reluctant to get tough with them and doesn’t want to get involved in messy legal battles, but the situation is getting out of hand. It’s only a matter of time before it spreads to other urban areas.”

The city council has issued enforcement orders against a number of convenience stores in recent months and admits that there have been a growing number of complaints from the public about the visual impact of such shops.

“We have taken action against several shops recently, forcing them to remove unauthorised signs,” said Rory O’Byrne, an enforcement officer. “We’re not actively targeting convenience stores, but we do investigate any reports of unauthorised development.”

An Taisce claims that when convenience stores open, they sometimes use cheap plastic signage emblazoned with their logos and claim that it is a temporary arrangement.

Duff said: “There is a Londis on O’Connell Street, right in the heart of an area with its own special planning controls, that has had a temporary sign outside it for almost 18 months. The policy appears to be to establish themselves visually with a big, bold sign and leave it in place for as long as possible.”

Londis admitted that erecting a permanent sign on its O’Connell Street store was taking longer than expected.

Spar has also been known to erect bold plastic “temporary” shopfronts, Duff claims. “The Spar on Patrick Street had ‘temporary’ signage for eight months. It has finally been removed and replaced with a stainless steel sign, but it’s completely different to what was agreed with the city council.”

Spar, Duff said, has opened several shops without securing planning permission for their facades first.

“Over the past year a significant proportion of their stores in the city centre have been fitted with an internally illuminated protruding plastic box fascia. These boxes have a cheap downmarket appearance and fly in the face of basic shopfront design principles,” he said.

Spar claims that it has a strong tradition of working closely with local authorities in all large European cities and is happy with its relationship with Dublin city council. “Spar takes it responsibilities in relation to planning very seriously,” it said.

“We are in continuous dialogue with the city council through our architects in relation to store frontage and signage.”

Centra claims that although its stores are individually owned by independent retailers, “store fronts have to conform to an agreed brand identity and quality standard as well as conforming to the planning requirements of the relevant local authority”.

Duff cites a Spar on Mayor Street and a Centra on Capel Street as two models of restraint in shopfront design. “Both of those stores have discreet, simple designs, but these constitute a minority,” he said.

@Pug wrote:

New Park N Ride facility going in at the Dunkettle Roundabout in the North East corner on the land between the roundabout and the Ibis hotel. I don’t go that way in the morning but I thought it was fairly choked with traffic already. Presume they will have some sort of system so the cars queueing to get in wont block everyone else.

Pug – I was under the impression that the park n ride was going in at North Esk (next to or on part of the railway owned land at their container terminal).
The attached aerial picture gives an idea of the area concerned, and a busy spot it is too given that you have the entrance to the tunnel, the intersection of the busy Dublin and Waterford roads, and the Cobh & Midleton railway.

Furthermore, Little Island industrial estate lies just to the east. To the north western corner, there are plans for several hundred houses in the grounds of Dunkatle House (not too sure what the status of that planning app is presently). If anyone is up to it, feel free to highlight the particular areas by highlighting the various elements in the photo.
Incidentally, I have several more aerial photos of Cork Harbour and given the recent debate about this thread, I am not too sure whether to post them in this thread, the transport thread, or the Cork Harbour thread! The photos cover all aspects and thus would most likely be relevant to all of the above although they would probably be best grouped together IMO. Suggestions on a postcard please before I commit any cardinal sins and breach posting etiquette;)

Apologies in advance for this photo as it is more concerned with the exterior than the interior of St. Colmans. I took this in August and thought readers of this thread might find them interesting. The imposing sight of St. Colman’s is something that has to be seen to be believed. (Will add more shots later)