No more parking for Páirc Uí Chaoimh
The local residents' association has welcomed An Bórd Pleanála's decision yesterday but the GAA county board says it now has "serious concerns" about access to the stadium.
Plans for a revamped Páirc Uí Chaoimh have been given the go-ahead by An Bórd Pleanála (ABP), who have overturned Cork City Council’s refusal to grant planning permission to the GAA for a redevelopment of the stadium and surrounds, it was announced yesterday.
A café, visitor’s centre, museum and outdoor children’s playground are all included in the redevelopment and will go ahead.
However, 150 parking spaces proposed for publicly owned land, included in the GAA’s original plans, have been turned down.
The original planning application sparked outrage for the inclusion of parking spaces on land that’s part of the publicly owned and newly opened Marina Park. Over 120 public submissions were made on the application before Cork City Council turned it down and the Cork County Board appealed their decision to ABP last October.
While a local residents’ association has welcomed the news, Cork County Board told Tripe + Drisheen yesterday that it will now seek to urgently “further engage with the relevant authorities to discuss these issues.”
“The Board remains seriously concerned over the issue of safe vehicular access to the stadium via the Marina and the availability of disabled parking for those attending Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” a statement issued by the County Board’s press officer said, yesterday evening.
The GAA’s plans had sought to turn the Monahan Road side of the stadium into the main vehicular access to the sporting grounds in anticipation of the Monahan Road Extension, a four-lane carriageway about to begin construction, which will eventually become the main access to the city from the M8 and the N25 when an Eastern Gateway Bridge funnels traffic across the Lee at Tivoli and towards the city centre, passing Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the new housing developments of the south docklands.
But plans for 150 car parking spaces, a set down and collect area and a vehicle crossing for the pedestrianised Marina Park were all rejected by ABP, who cited in their report “the interest of protecting public open space and the amenity value of Marina Park, and in the interest of the safety and convenience of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.”
Ballintemple Area Residents Association (BARA), who campaigned against the parking plans, welcomed the conditions set by ABP yesterday and said it contained “very important conditions that rightly put pedestrian and park user safety, enjoyment, and consideration to the forefront of planning.”
BARA said they now look forward to consulting with the GAA on the 520 sq metre children’s playground and parking for 200 bicycles included in the plans.
“We wish the GAA success in their ambitions and endeavours to thrive and hope they continue to work with the local community with regards to the daily running of this sports facility as well as for larger sporting fixtures and concerts,” the resident's association said in a statement.
They also urged the GAA to uphold a memorandum of understanding signed by residents and the County Board in 2014, in which BARA agreed to withdraw a planning objection; in return, the County Board had promised not to seek access to Marina Park lands for their plans and to integrate Smarter Travel plans for public transport and park and ride into their transport plans for matches and large events.
Tripe + Drisheen published a long read with further details of the long-running story last September, before the GAA appealed to An Bórd Pleanála:
Good result but in practical terms stadium access for many will now depend on a better designed public transport network. Are there clear linkages between public transport designs for Cork and the needs of stadium users?