The people ‘have spoken’ - 36 submissions on Doneraile plans

Revised Section 38 works for Doneraile were brought before members of the Fermoy Municipal District this week following a public consultation which saw some changes made to the final report.

Works proposed for the town include traffic calming measures south of Turnpike Cross, at the junction of Main Street and Convent Road and Cornahinch Cross.

The works went to public consultation on June 17 after initial plans were contested by locals and business people and following the closing of the consultation on July 16, a total of 12 written submissions and 24 online submissions were received by Cork County Council.

Councillor Kay Dawson noted that a large number of submissions towards the development showed the ‘strength of the community’ in Doneraile, considering how ‘actively’ they had taken part in the public consultation process.

Presenting the final report at the Fermoy Municipal District meeting on Tuesday, senior engineer Brendan O’Gorman noted that in general, there was ‘good support’ and a ‘positive reaction’ from most regarding the works, however that submissions ‘paint a very different picture’ with a majority of such contesting the removal of parking.

Submissions received highlighted that people were not in favour of removing on-street parking on main street to facilitate a bus and coach set down area, as originally proposed. It was proposed by the council that now, following submissions, the proposed set down area would be removed from the plans, which was agreed by councillors.

LORD’S GATE

According to Mr O’Gorman, members of the public felt that if ‘Lord’s Gate’ was opened by the Office of Public Works (OPW) it would allow sufficient parking for bus operators and free up on-street parking for locals.

Councillor Frank O’Flynn also raised this issue, and the issue regarding a lack of parking in motions tabled at the meeting, noting that the ‘Lord’s Gate’ was always kept open, however in recent times it has been closed.

“I personally feel that we need off-street parking, definitely on the North side. I think it’s important that the gate would be open as it would take a lot of traffic off the town,” Cllr O’Flynn said.

Municipal District officer, Pauline Moriarty responded to the motions.

“Off-street parking in Doneraile will be explored, however the provision of offstreet parking will be subject to available funds. Cork County Council has arranged a meeting with the OPW in relation to issues raised during the recent Section 38 consultations and this item (opening ‘ Lord’s Gate’) will form part of our discussions with them,” Ms Moriarty said.

LOCALS HAVE TROUBLE PARKING

During the meeting, senior engineer Brendan O’Gorman noted that submissions highlighted parking in the town as a main topic of concern.

“We (the council) were asked by many residents to reach out to OPW and relay their frustrations with the fact that the presence of the park means that people living in the town cannot park near their houses. We are committed to resolving car parking deficiencies in the town as a result of the issues raised by public consultation,” Mr O’Gorman said.

Councillor Noel McCarthy also commented on the need for parking for the town.

“Even though Doneraile is a great place to visit and it’s getting busier and busier, but not inconveniencing people that have lived there all their lives, that’s the most important thing and we must take that into consideration and I think in this report, we have,” Cllr McCarthy said.

OTHER POINTS

Another issue highlighted was in relation to a proposed future parklet outside a café in the town. According to Mr O’Gorman, this was ‘aspirational’ as he noted that no physical works for such were included in the Section 38 plans.

Plans for a pedestrian crossing south of Turnpike Cross were also revised following representations from the nearby school in relation to kerbing proposed in the area.

“Kerbing was put in to reduce traffic speeds, however with the set down and drop off of the school children, there are issues with on-street parking there,” Mr O’Gorman said.

It was agreed at the meeting that the kerbing would not be included for an area of 100 metres north of the pedestrian crossing to allow for parking, while the council engages with OPW to review off-street parking in the area.

THE PEOPLE ‘HAVE SPOKEN’

Local councillors in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting complimented council officials for the work put into the Section 38 plans for Doneraile with many highlighting the success of the public consultation.

In relation to a large number of submissions, Councillor William O’Leary said that it was great to see that the public’s views were taken into account.

“We are in a good place as we go for planning here. Hopefully, when work begins we will see the hard evidence of the benefits here,” he said

Councillor Deirdre O’Brien also welcomed the works stating that public consultation is ‘critical’ and that the people of Doneraile ‘have spoken’.

The plans were proposed and seconded at the meeting, meaning that proposed works can now go to tender.

FUNDING

Senior engineer Brendan O’Gorman also noted that the council are ‘under grant restrictions’ and are required to have allocated monies spent by the end of the year.

“We need to move forward very quickly on this,” he said.