Small towns in Co Cork are coming under pressure to accept proposals for large housing estates in order to receive vital infrastructure and leisure amenities, a county council meeting heard yesterday.
Labour Party councillor Paula Desmond addressed a meeting of 48 councillors at County Hall, Cork, who had gathered to ratify draft proposals which dictate how the county will develop over the next five years.
Ms Desmond said many areas in Co Cork were being left without proper sewage facilities, traffic calming measures and infrastructure because of a lack of proper funding at local authority level. She said developers were keen to "gift" communities with social and educational amenities in order to facilitate building houses in areas unsuitable for zoning.
"The community often feel their back is against the wall and if they don't take the proposals for rezoning they will have no sewage, no traffic calming measures and so on," she said.
"It is an all or nothing situation. They have to take the houses if they are going to get the amenities. It is putting a lot of pressure on communities that shouldn't be there. People are agreeing to proposals that are not necessarily good for the community because they feel they have to."
Ms Desmond said towns in the county were losing their sense of community because of blanket zoning of housing estates, resulting in "soulless dormitory suburbs". She added that community groups weren't being given adequate time to voice their concern at the proposed scale of developments in the 2005 county development plan.
Members of community groups from Carrigtwohill, Cobh, Glenville and Rathcormac attended yesterday's meeting in County Hall.
Margaret Sweeney from Glenville said she didn't object to growth. However, she was concerned that her small town, on the outskirts of the city, would be swamped by faceless housing estates.
"We have just one pub, a GAA pitch and a small school. In the last year alone we have had 120 houses on stream. We are afraid with these proposed developments that our rural community will be overrun. I have lived in Glenville for 19 years and have a small child, so I have to watch out for her."
Ms Sweeney's comments were echoed by community group leaders in Carrigtwohill, where 4,000 houses are to be built if the draft plan is approved.
Local community council spokesman Anthony Barry said he wanted the plans to be put on hold until more amenities were in place, warning that to do otherwise would spell "disaster" for Carrigtwohill.
Residents in Rathcormac have also voiced their fears about plans to rezone 23 acres of land for housing in the village.
The county development plan meeting will continue at County Hall today. The final vote on the plan will take place next Monday.