The Port of Cork has lodged large scale plans with An Bord Pleanála for its Ringaskiddy Port Redevelopment project
Documents lodged with An Bord Pleanala under ‘Marine Development’ state during the construction phase, 849 jobs will be created through the development of a Cork Container Berth 2 and Deepwater Berth Extension in the scheme.
A planning report lodged with An Bord Pleanála states that a ‘do nothing’ option “has been ruled out as a failure to construct Cork Container Berth 2 and Deepwater Berth Extension will impact the Port of Cork’s ability to service the needs of the bulks sector”.
A planning report states that “the operation of the port redevelopment will also result in a positive impact to economic activity as the existing operations relocate from Tivoli and the City Quays”.
The report states that “the construction of the port redevelopment will result largely in a positive impact to economic activity, including the creation of an estimated 849 construction jobs, as well as indirect jobs that can be attributed to the works”.
On the need for the development, the non-technical summary of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) states that the relocation of Port activities from the Upper Harbour, including City Quays “is considered a key component to facilitate redevelopment of the Docklands and Tivoli for residential and employment uses”.
The report states that Cork city “needs these lands to achieve its population growth targets and spatial planning objectives for the region”
It states that “further the Port of Cork must release the equity of lands in the longer term in the Upper Harbour to fund their infrastructural and operational requirements, in line with Government policy.
It adds that in this case, the Port of Cork “must also relocate from the Upper Harbour because the depth of the water channel and width of the river at Tivoli cannot accommodate larger vessels and it is logistically difficult to accommodate with more than one container vessel at a time”.
The report states that a large portion of the permitted works have been completed and are now operational.
The report states that there is no provision in legislation that provides for an extension of duration of the original permission and accordingly, the new application is seeking permission for the elements of the work previously permitted but which are yet to be completed.
The report states that this redevelopment has expanded the capacity of the deepwater port at Ringaskiddy for the purposes of relocation which will ultimately contribute to enabling the Port of Cork to relocate operations entirely from the Upper Harbour by 2050.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
