As attempts continue in Cork to find a suitable alternative to the municipal dump which will run out of space by September next year, restrictions on commercial waste are to be imposed there at the end of the summer. The city authorities now favour thermal treatment as part of an overall waste management package.
The Cork city manager, Mr Joe Gavin, has confirmed that when he presents a report to councillors on the urgent need to a find a solution to the city's growing waste problem, thermal treatment will be an option. Studies in other countries, Mr Gavin said, had shown that thermally treating waste, whether by gasification or incineration, had become essential.
Pressure on the existing dump at Kinsale Road had become so great, Mr Gavin added, that its use would have to be restricted from the end of the summer to household waste. Commercial waste, from shops, offices etc, will no longer have access to the city dump. Owners of commercial properties will be forced to reuse and recycle materials.
The waste problem in Cork is compounded because councillors cannot agree on the location for a proposed materials recovery facility which would segregate waste before it was moved to landfill at Bottlehill, site of the county's proposed new dump.
The original plan, as part of the city's contribution to an overall waste management strategy for the entire county, was for the facility to be located at Kinsale Road when the dump closes, but local residents are opposed to this, as are residents at nearby Black Ash, another site mentioned. The city-operated facility would have fed the new dump, which is to be operated by the county, but there is now uncertainty whether a facility will ever be constructed in Cork.
Under new legislation, a city or county manager is empowered to make a waste management plan if the local authority members fail to do so, but Mr Gavin insists he wants the Cork city waste plan to be built on consensus.
The likelihood is that he will now put before members a plan for waste treatment which, for the first time in Cork, will include home segregation of waste, requiring each household to use three separate bins instead of one, and some form of thermal treatment.
Members will also be made aware that in many other European cities local authorities are no longer involved in waste collection and disposal and that, increasingly, this function is being done by private companies.
"The more affluent society which we have in Ireland has brought with it more waste problems. But there are profits to be made in waste management and increasingly the private sector is moving into this area. I want to put the various options to the members and hopefully we can move forward after that," Mr Gavin said.
Yesterday Mr Gavin announced radical new management proposals for the corporation. These centre on greater public accountability and performance driven management teams. In the first phase, the City Hall has produced a corporate plan for 2001-2004 which will lead to the creation of eight new directorates, headed by a director of services, which will report directly to the city manager.
They will include: environment; development and planning; housing and community services; community and enterprise; special projects; roads and transportation and corporate affairs. The new format will replace the former management structure on September 3rd. The development and planning directorate will move from the City Hall to nearby Navigation House, which the corporation purchased last week for £2.8 million. The former cotton store, built in the early 1850s, is one of Cork's historic limestone buildings.
The revitalised management approach is aimed at positioning the corporation to oversee an expected period of unparalleled growth in the city.
By next October the corporation will be considering several key plans to chart the development of Cork over the next two decades.
The most important will be the Cork Area Strategic Plan, a blueprint for development up to 2020 of the entire region. Sub-plans will include the docks plan, now in preparation, which will be a public-private partnership.
It is being designed to unlock a large swathe of investment, opening the way for the realignment of old and new Cork from the city centre along both sides of the river to the eastern approaches.
A team dedicated to co-ordinating the docks development will join the planners in Navigation House. The Tall Buildings Study, designed to pinpoint for investors areas where this type of structure will be acceptable, will also be before the members, as will the Rapid Programme, under which four areas of Cork city have been designated for special attention by State and local agencies.
These are: Knocknaheeny/Church field, Fairhill/Gurranbraher, Farranree, Blackpool/The Glen, Mayfield and Togher/Mahon.
Having identified goals for the plan, each of the new directorates will be required to indicate targets, suggesting how they should be achieved and laying the entire process open to scrutiny by a review committee.
The corporate plan was developed by the various departments in response to the Government's call for an overhaul of local government.