Cork has changed dramatically under the stewardship of Joe Gavin, who retired yesterday as city manager
CORK IS well positioned to capitalise on the economic upturn, with improvements to the city streetscape and an increase in retail outlets making it an attractive destination for tourists, according to retiring city manager Joe Gavin.
Gavin, who stepped down yesterday after 10 years at the helm of Cork City Council, says the city has made significant progress towards achieving a number of goals set out in development plans over 10 years ago. Among the goals were improvements to public spaces, increasing the amount of retail in the city centre, attracting office development back to the city centre, and promoting the city as a destination for short breaks.
The refurbishment of Patrick Street and the Grand Parade area, based on a design by Catalan architect Beth Gali, along with the pedestrianisation of Oliver Plunkett Street and the side streets off Patrick Street have made the city centre much more attractive, he says.
The amount of retail in the city centre has also been increased by about 50 per cent, with the completion of the Opera Lane development, the refurbishment of Dunnes Stores on Patrick Street and the redevelopment of Cornmarket Street, he adds.
“It’s the city centre which creates the image of the city – that’s where people come to visit, and the most obvious change over the last 10 years has been in Patrick Street, the Grand Parade and the area around Emmet Place, which have all changed for the better in a major way.”
In addition to the city centre development, there has been the development of new shopping centres in Mahon and Blackpool, and the expansion of shopping facilities in Douglas, says Gavin.
“We also sought to make the city more attractive to tourists . . . We’ve done that by opening up the Lifetime Lab on the Lee Road [and] the Observatory at Blackrock Castle. UCC has opened the Glucksman, and the Crawford Gallery has also expanded.
"I think Cork now has a range of retail and choices that are unsurpassed anywhere in the country. It's not just good for the locals but it's also good for the tourists, and helps make Cork an attractive destination, as the Lonely Planetguide recognised last year."
Mr Gavin says the city council was fortunate in that the private sector responded very well to the council’s encouragement to invest in the city, with the development of the City Quarter with the Clarion Hotel and boardwalk restaurants adding to the city’s attractiveness.
“Sometimes you have the best laid plans and you can’t get the resources, but the economy came right for us at the time and we got a considerable amount of money through development levies, which we reinvested,” he says.
According to Gavin, the City Quarter offers a foretaste of what the Cork docklands project will be like, and he expresses confidence that the project, with its promise of 20,000 residents and 20,000-25,000 jobs, will be achieved.
He points out that developer Gerry Wycherly had recently applied for planning for a major development in the Marina Commercial Park. He also expresses confidence that a planning application will be lodged before Christmas for a site owned by Topaz.
A planning application by IAWS for the quays had been granted by the council, but was overturned on appeal. Gavin expects ultimately to proceed with revisions. Planning has been granted to Howard Holdings for a proposal near Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
“While economically we are at a low at the moment, all the plans are being prepared and all are following a strategy. They will be ready to move when the economy improves,” says Gavin, noting the docklands is a 20-year project.
He’s confident that the Government will remain supportive of the Cork Docklands Strategy, pointing out that it is in line with the Government policy in terms of the National Spatial Strategy.
Cork City Council has applied for €2.4 million to finalise the design of the Eastern Gateway Bridge at Tivoli, and Gavin is optimistic the Government will provide funding for the infrastructure necessary to open up the docklands.
He says the estimated cost of the infrastructural work, including roads, bridges and schools necessary to develop the docklands over the next 20 years, will be around €300 million, but that up to 20 per cent of the docklands could be developed as it currently stands.
“We are going through a difficult economic time at the moment, therefore people are in survival mode, and that will be there for some time. But once that moves off, and it will move off, the city has all the facilities to grow and develop and achieve its potential.”
KEY CHALLENGES: GAVIN ON FLOODING AND DEVELOPER CRITICISM
JOE GAVIN acknowledges that last November’s flooding of the western side of the city was one of the biggest challenges which he and his staff faced.
The retiring Cork City Manager said: “My own feeling is that the city is built on a marsh, that’s a reality and you make the best of that situation as you can but what happened in November was totally unprecedented; we had our prepared plans and they worked pretty well – people suffered but there was no loss of life.”
Asked what assurance he could give that there wouldn’t be any repeat of the flooding, he accepted he could offer no guarantees but expressed confidence that local protection works and operating changes at the ESB dams on the Lee would reduce the risk of re-occurrence.
“There’s no guarantee it won’t happen again but the experts in the OPW have put a lot of work in the Lee Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management Study to come up with a solution to significantly reduce the risk of flooding in Cork city.
“They’ve concluded that changes to the management regime at the ESB dams along with some local protection works to allow water be discharged more quickly without flooding will substantially reduce the risk of flooding but you have can never give a full guarantee.”
Aside from the challenge of the flooding, Mr Gavin has also been criticised by some for being too reliant on private developers to change the city but he strongly defended his record and said such entrepreneurs were necessary to enable Cork to achieve its potential. “I wouldn’t accept that at all .What I’ve said before and I’ll say it again is that you need developers – buildings and projects don’t just happen and the local authorities don’t go building hospitals or cinemas or houses.
“What you do is you create the environment that allows for good development to happen and you control that – certainly I would have encouraged developers to come into Cork city and develop the city and I would do that again and I believe, the city is the better for it.
“Take for example, the events centre – there was a clear need for one in the city, we offered to take up a 25 per cent equity in it to encourage a developer in – now the economy has changed, that offer has been withdrawn but it was done to stimulate interest in developing a centre.”
BARRY ROCHE
