Anti High Rise Nimbys in Cork

M

madisona

Guest
given what has happened with the development of urban sprawl in Dublin over the last two decades with the resulting traffic problems, and which is now being replicated in Cork it is interesting to note that a group set up to protect the property prices of existing city residents by preventing the building of appartment blocks close to the City centre has had major success with the help of a large number of city councillers. God bless local democracy.

In Oct 2005 a motion calling for a ban on any develomments of over 3 stories in the western part of the City was passed by two thirds of councillers.

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the sooner we get the political element out of planning our cities the better.every other modern capital city has well planned high rise and high rise isnt a problem.
 
This would be funny were it not so serious. There is already a "doughnut effect" problem in Cork city. City centre schools are closing and/or reducing pupil facilities because of falls in the number of kids in the city centre. Meanwhile, couples and young families are settling down in the newer districts on the outskirts of city, leading to shortages of school places in those districts. Insane is the only word for it.
 
This group sprung up largely in response to the hedious Victoria Cross flats complex (see pic [broken link removed]) I think. I wouldn't blame them really if this is going to be a template for future high-rise in the area.
 

Not quite, although I agree that there isn't adequate provision on the suburbs.

Families with young children moved out of the city a long time ago, but now there is a serious increase in families moving back to the city centre. There is of course an upper limit to this influx as there is relatively little development potential left in the city.

As for the west side of the city, I must say that, although I don't live there, some of the new developments are pretty dire and I can understand residents objecting.
 
Diziet said:
...now there is a serious increase in families moving back to the city centre.
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That may be the case but according to what I have heard, several schools in the south inner city are experiencing big drops in numbers and facilities are being curtailed as a result.

Diziet said:
There is of course an upper limit to this influx as there is relatively little development potential left in the city.
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I would have thought that tastefully designed high-rise development might have provided a solution...
 
Theres ways of ensuring high rise blocks are attractive ,look at London New York etc, we wont develop well as an economy with low density urban sprawl.
 
ubiquitous said:
I would have thought that tastefully designed high-rise development might have provided a solution...
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True but tasteful design is not high on the list of priorities of builders and Cork city council lacks imagination. Instead you get a flats development plonked in the middle of a low rise residential area with no regard of surrounding architecture and facilities. Many cities do high rise living well, but it takes good planning. At the moment this type of decision is basically left to developers.
 
jeez that Cork building is very (bad) 1960s, I'd be a NAMBY meself
 
sure County Hall is gas. True architectural folly - why in Gods name do you need to build something up into the sky where there SFA all around it, high rise should only be used where footprint is limited, i.e. in city centres where they look best anyway. The same is/was true of Ballymun.

From the jist of peoples responses is Cork becoming de new Dublin for traffic hell??
 
can i point out as someone who lives in Cork and was born and grew up not far from the area in question that has borne the brunt of the high rise, Bishopstown. The issue that has arisen is that these blocks are being built in what are in effect suburbs, not the city centre.
 

I suppose that as the city expands, what was once the burbs becomes part of the city centre. Much of the city centre is probably zoned employment, retail.
 
There is no such thing as planning in Ireland. I remember reading a David McWiliams article a few years back where he talked of the benefit of the soft economy.

Where are the fine buildings, theatres, museums etc that the celtic tiger has brought us? Buildings and city scapes which make us proud of our cities? Galway is a fine example of a city with potential which has been utterly concreted over by those with money and no taste, allowed to do what they like by the weakness and greed of our elected representidiots.

There is no reason not to go high rise on Dublin or Corks docklands. And to do it with the style and guts of city centre London. What follows is good public transport and plenty of public parks. But hey, who am I kidding?
 
Well sure when the great & good of East Wall start objecting about the potential redevelopment and employment (including local community employment as operates in IFSC) in their area then you have to wonder. Everyone wants a soft buck, expects a brown envelope. Maybe I'm just cynical but when I hear about the like of the Croke Park residents Association the phrase "opportunists" springs to mind!!
 
2Pack said:
jeez that Cork building is very (bad) 1960s, I'd be a NAMBY meself
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To be sure! See it in all its glory here
[broken link removed]

What's worse is they are building an identikit complex next to it with a sham brick facade... I cringe when I pass them almost every day.

The nearby Victoria Lodge student apartments are good example of how to build moderate high rise IMHO
 
Betsy Og said:
sure County Hall is gas. True architectural folly - why in Gods name do you need to build something up into the sky where there SFA all around it
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In fairness though it's looking good since it got its makeover.

Betsy Og said:
From the jist of peoples responses is Cork becoming de new Dublin for traffic hell??
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Yes, it's pretty bad, especially the city centre, the bus service is awful a lot of the time. At least Dublin has the Luas.
 

ah but where does the city centre end and the suburbs begin. Victoria Cross is about a 10 min walk from the City Centre. IMO the stretch of land on the left going out from the city centre along the Western road and Carrigrohane road would be perfect for high rise (10-15 story) apartment developments. There is also a lot of development land available ( the old petrol station, greyhound track etc) These apartments would be on a main road and within walking distance of the city centre and not really overlooking current residential estates in the nearby "suburb" of bishopstown. Instead people are buying 3 bed semis in places like Midleton, Macroom, Bandon etc which are 20-30 miles from the city and not really where they want to be. This is also causing major traffic problems in the City. I also think the issue of design is a red herring. If this is the issue they could insist on certain architectural standards rather than banning outright all high rise ( btw I don't agree either with their definition of high rise as anything that is four stories)
 
its ridiculous that a council can get away with banning anything over 4 storeies,in london paris and new york you'd be lucky to find anything under 4 stories! but in dublin much of the city is like this,a shocking and uneconomical waste of space.
 
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