1 + 1 = 0 - Council Mathematics
Sometimes One plus One equals Zero. It may not be mathematically correct, but it chimes with real life. Over the last few days, Cork has seen quite a bit of this type of mathematical travesty. The reason? A panel of so-called experts has recommended the dissolution of Cork City Council and it's integration into the existing Cork County Council. The reaction to this recommendation was as expected as it was vociferous: Large parts of the local population, including opposition leaders such as Miheal Martin of Fianna Fail, Irelands largest opposition party, are vehemently opposed to it. And for once, I cannot help but agree with mister Martin. It is an incredibly stupid and ill-informed decision.
How did it all come to be? Well, it started with a long overdue review into the boundaries of Cork City. These boundaries haven't changed since the 1920s, and while they were certainly adequate back then, they are woefully inadequate nowadays. The city, Ireland's second largest, is hemmed in by these borders, with major elements of its infrastructure, like the airport, outside of city limits, just as the major commuter towns like Ballincollig, or Carrigtohill. There is almost no space left for expansion within the city limits. Clearly, something had to give. The government in Dublin reacted the way many, if not most governments react when faced with such a situation: It set up a committee to investigate the situation. This committee had to decide the pros and cons of two options, enlarging the city limits of Cork to include most of the commuter towns surrounding it, or the full scale merger of Cork City Council and Cork County Council, effectively ending Cork's 830 year history as an independent city.
An enlarging of the city makes a lot of sense, as I said above, any further large scale development is quite frankly not possible within the present city limits. There is a huge lack of affordable accommodation within the city, and the few areas that could be developed as apartments or houses are the city docks, and the container terminal of the Port of Cork in Tivoli, which is still in active service, and will be for a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, even if these areas become available, they have been in use as industrial areas for decades, and will almost certainly have to be decontaminated. The same goes for commercial properties. Cork has a severe shortage of modern open plan office space, as is shown by the fact that One Albert Quay, while not even 50% finished, is already almost completely let. Many of the offices standing empty in the city are 1960s to 1980s vintage buildings that are not adequate to companies like PWC, Tyco, or even the Apples, Googles, and Facebooks of this world.
Extending the city limits will also allow any planning for new residential or commercial developments to be made by a single body, enabling a somewhat solid structure of built up areas and green areas to be developed, following the city's somewhat quirky geography. It will also allow the city to develop along certain transit axes and the development of such axes in the first place.
The committee decided differently, as we all now know. It is, without a doubt, the worst possible outcome. Granted, Cork City and County might be identical in name, but that's where the commonality ends. The Cork city metro area is the second largest metropolitan area in the Republic, after Dublin, and the third largest on the island. By contrast, much of the rest of the county is a sparsely populated, rural area, with few towns. Both areas have very difficult issues to deal with, most prominently when it comes to population. Many areas of the county have faces massive migration to the larger cities or even full scale emigration over the last couple of years. On the other hand, the amount of high-tech and pharmaceutical companies in Cork and the Cork metro area has attracted large numbers of employees both from abroad and from Ireland itself to the city.This has resulted in a massive housing shortage in the city, especially for those on low or middle incomes. Infrastructure needs are vastly different as well.
Then, there's the size aspect. County Cork is by far the largest county in Ireland, with an area of 7500 square kilometres, roughly equal to the federal state of Salzburg in Austria, or three times the size of the german state of Saarland. That is a vast area to keep under control, adding Ireland's largest city to that mix will not make Cork County Council's job easier. In fact, it will make it harder for Cork County council to deliver services across the entire area. In addition, it will pave the way for urban sprawl to spread out in all possible directions, just look at Dublin. Leaving the city without borders will remove any motivation for any structured planning, an just turn the surroundings into a mess of semi detached housing estates.
Quite frankly, the only motivation I can see for this merging of the two bodies is a simple money grab by Cork County Council. They would be able to get their hands on the local council taxes paid by the likes or Apple, EMC, Amazon, and all the other large companies currently residing in the city. In effect, it is the biggest robbery in the history of the Irish State. It must be stopped, and I absolutely applaud any plans for a local referendum on this matter.
An enlarging of the city makes a lot of sense, as I said above, any further large scale development is quite frankly not possible within the present city limits. There is a huge lack of affordable accommodation within the city, and the few areas that could be developed as apartments or houses are the city docks, and the container terminal of the Port of Cork in Tivoli, which is still in active service, and will be for a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, even if these areas become available, they have been in use as industrial areas for decades, and will almost certainly have to be decontaminated. The same goes for commercial properties. Cork has a severe shortage of modern open plan office space, as is shown by the fact that One Albert Quay, while not even 50% finished, is already almost completely let. Many of the offices standing empty in the city are 1960s to 1980s vintage buildings that are not adequate to companies like PWC, Tyco, or even the Apples, Googles, and Facebooks of this world.
Extending the city limits will also allow any planning for new residential or commercial developments to be made by a single body, enabling a somewhat solid structure of built up areas and green areas to be developed, following the city's somewhat quirky geography. It will also allow the city to develop along certain transit axes and the development of such axes in the first place.
The committee decided differently, as we all now know. It is, without a doubt, the worst possible outcome. Granted, Cork City and County might be identical in name, but that's where the commonality ends. The Cork city metro area is the second largest metropolitan area in the Republic, after Dublin, and the third largest on the island. By contrast, much of the rest of the county is a sparsely populated, rural area, with few towns. Both areas have very difficult issues to deal with, most prominently when it comes to population. Many areas of the county have faces massive migration to the larger cities or even full scale emigration over the last couple of years. On the other hand, the amount of high-tech and pharmaceutical companies in Cork and the Cork metro area has attracted large numbers of employees both from abroad and from Ireland itself to the city.This has resulted in a massive housing shortage in the city, especially for those on low or middle incomes. Infrastructure needs are vastly different as well.
Then, there's the size aspect. County Cork is by far the largest county in Ireland, with an area of 7500 square kilometres, roughly equal to the federal state of Salzburg in Austria, or three times the size of the german state of Saarland. That is a vast area to keep under control, adding Ireland's largest city to that mix will not make Cork County Council's job easier. In fact, it will make it harder for Cork County council to deliver services across the entire area. In addition, it will pave the way for urban sprawl to spread out in all possible directions, just look at Dublin. Leaving the city without borders will remove any motivation for any structured planning, an just turn the surroundings into a mess of semi detached housing estates.
Quite frankly, the only motivation I can see for this merging of the two bodies is a simple money grab by Cork County Council. They would be able to get their hands on the local council taxes paid by the likes or Apple, EMC, Amazon, and all the other large companies currently residing in the city. In effect, it is the biggest robbery in the history of the Irish State. It must be stopped, and I absolutely applaud any plans for a local referendum on this matter.
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