November 2024
Hi, there! — Welcome to the thirty-second edition of my monthly newsletter to keep you up to date on my work for Cork City North East.
This month we have motions on open fireplaces in city council properties, public transport priority in the city, and the right to safe clean drinking water — as well as questions about parking enforcement on MacCurtain Street and active travel schemes in Mayfield and Montenotte.
I’ve also included updates on new parks, investing in playgrounds in the area and safe travel to school for children.
I hope you always feel welcome to email me any time at oliver.moran@greenparty.ie, if there’s anything you want to get in touch about, or even just to let me know your thoughts on this newsletter.
Please also remember, you can share this newsletter with your friends and neighbours in the ward as well.
Many thanks!
Oliver
p.s. You can use this link to easily read and share all my monthly newsletters ... oliver.ie/newsletter
Motions and notions
Each councillor can submit up to four motions each month to Cork City Council and ask two formal questions of the Chief Executive. One of these questions is asked at the Local Area Committee and must be about local operational matters.
Before the deadline each month, I meet with my local group, the Cork City North Greens, and we agree motions and questions for the month ahead. We call this our “motions and notions” meeting :-)
If you have ideas or suggestions for a motion, or have a question you want asked, just let me know!
Or join the Cork City North Greens ... my.greenparty.ie
Questions
“To ask the Chief Executive for a list of parking fines issued during the ‘out-of-hours’ pilot by Cork City Council traffic wardens, providing the date, time, location and type of offence for each fine issued; and the additional staff costs associated with the pilot?”
I will also ask the following question at the next meeting of the North East ward Local Area Committee:
“To ask the Chief Executive for progress on the Mayfield to Glen walking and cycling route and the Colmcille Avenue to Gardiner’s Hill active travel route; and if it is anticipated that these projects will come forward for Part 8 consultation shortly?”
Motions
“That Cork City Council will remove or close open fireplaces in city council-owned properties as part of routine refurbishment between tenancies; and offer to do so as part of energy upgrades.”
“That Cork City Council will extend the hours of operation of the Patrick’s Street bus lane from 6:00am to 9:00pm each day in line with the short term mitigation measures identified by the Minister for Transport.”
“That Cork City Council notes that safe drinking water and sanitation are internationally recognized human rights; and will write to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission seeking an investigation into the issue of unsafe drinking water in the city, caused by the sudden deterioration of the city's water mains two years ago, without the provision of an alternative source of safe drinking water by Uisce Éireann, how this is affecting households and individuals in the city, including those with medical and additional needs, and the response of Uisce Éireann, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and other accountable bodies.”
“That Cork City Council will develop an initiative similar to Breastfeeding Friendly Limerick to help improve the health and wellbeing of breastfeeding mothers, babies and their families through the development and promotion of breastfeeding-friendly businesses, organisations and communities.””
What’s happening?
Progress on new parks
Cork City Council officials have confirmed to me that a tender has been accepted for a contractor to commence work on a new Tinker’s Cross Park. A new playground at the Village Pitches in Lotabeg is also in design. Officials hope to start procurement of equipment for that new playground in the first quarter of 2025.
Both projects are being funded through grants from the Community Recognition Fund totaling €123,500, announced by my Green Party colleague in government, Joe O’Brien. This fund aims to support the development of community facilities in recognition of those welcoming and hosting arrivals from Ukraine and other countries.
An appropriate way of celebrating that is with places that children, regardless of background, can play together.
Other parks in the ward will also benefit from the Community Climate Action Fund. This is part of a package of measures by Minister for Climate Action, Eamon Ryan, to support projects that build low-carbon communities in local areas.
In the North East ward, it includes €25,000 for a children’s bike track at the Railway Park and €50,000 to take the St Luke’s Community Garden to ‘the next level’, as well as other climate-related projects in the Blackpool, Mayfield and Upper Glanmire areas.
In addition, Railway Park is also being upgraded and is waiting on delivery of play equipment shortly.
MacCurtain Street parking enforcement
This year, Cork City Council introduced a pilot out-of-hours scheme for parking enforcement. The scheme was introduced in the city’s budget at the proposal of the Green Party.
Traditionally, traffic wardens patrolled only during the hours of operation of on-street parking charges, which typically end at 6:30pm and don’t apply at all on Sundays.
This left a gap in enforcement of offences such as parking in bus bays and on footpaths. The gardaí are able to enforce parking offences but had also been calling on the city to do more. So too were other bodies like Bus Éireann, traders, particularly in the MacCurtain Street area, and pedestrian and disability advocates.
This month, I received data on the trial so far, which shows that it meets its own costs. However, in particular, what the data shows is how the issue of illegal parking on MacCurtain Street stands out.
It’s maddening because there’s no need for footpath parking on MacCurtain Street. There are over 800 legal off-street parking bays in the immediate area, including one car park that opens directly onto the street for pedestrians. These are the same price or cheaper than on-street parking.
A lot of the on-street parking on MacCurtain Street is prioritised for deliveries and 15-minute parking to allow people to pop in and out of shops, so illegal parking takes away from that vital resource for businesses.
While the out-of-hours pilot is self-financing, officials are now having to look at ways to modify the layout of the street to prevent illegal parking. That’s disappointing given that so much money was already invested in the redesign of the street.
Safe Routes to Schools
This month, Cork City Council agreed two more projects under the Safe Routes to Schools programme. One of these was at St Luke’s Cross, the other was in St Joseph’s View in Glanmire. A third project at Glanmire Community College was agreed in June.
St Luke’s Cross, in particular, is a busy junction for motorists but it’s busy too for pedestrians. The focus of this scheme is making it safe for children going to school. The benefit is felt across the whole community.
The scheme will add controlled pedestrian crossings at each corner of St Luke’s Cross for the first time. That’s a game changer for people with disabilities, young people or anyone feeling nervous crossing with live traffic at a busy junction.
The two current push-button crossings at Ballyhooly Road and Middle Glanmire Road will stay in place. A third push-button crossing will be added at Summer Hill and a zebra crossing will be put on Wellington Road.
The project in St Joseph’s View is the city’s first official “school street”. That will limit access to the front-of-school area during peak times, while still allowing residents access. An unofficial “school street” is already in place in Beaumont School, where the parents’ association won a national road safety award for their initiative in 2022.
At the Transport & Mobility committee meeting last month, it was discussed how relatively few schools appear to be aware of the Safe Routes to Schools programme, that provides funding for these kinds of works.
Officials have been asked to contact all schools again and if parents or neighbours want to learn more, feel welcome to get in touch.
In the news…
Cork councillor says disbanding of Road Safety Authority is ‘a good idea’
Green Party councillor and general election candidate, Oliver Moran said, “The RSA have been long criticised by active travel proponents for being too car focused.”
Echo, Saturday, 26 October
Week long wait for drinkable water for Cork city area amid contamination concerns
Councillor Oliver Moran said householders feel “completely abandoned by every agency with responsibility for the problem.”
CorkBeo, Saturday, 19 October
‘Eye-watering’ cost of Cork active travel route will have major benefits for citizens, council told
Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, described it as a nationally significant piece of infrastructure and one of the most significant projects overseen by the council.
Irish Examiner, Wednesday, 16 October
Keep in touch
Thanks for reading! Please feel welcome to share this newsletter and invite other people you know to subscribe — and, if you can, please consider making a donation to my political activities in the ward.
You can also keep up to date with my activities on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Mastodon and TikTok. And don’t forget, you can email me any time at oliver.moran@greenparty.ie.
Have a great month!
