Marina Market planning issue pits public demand against public safety
Demanding Marina Picture: Market Traders Their Huge For Linehan Has Dan Decision And To City Left Answers Cork And Upset Council’s Permission Caused Customers, Refuse Councillors City
Born in a warehouse in the pandemic but at risk now because of regulations introduced following a massive explosion at an oil storage terminal in England, Cork’s Marina Market is caught between a rock and a hard place.
The firm behind the indoor food emporium, CPR Properties, and its consultants, remained tight-lipped on Monday night as they assess the implications of Cork City Council’s decision to refuse permission for their application for retention of the change of use from warehouse and distribution use to market and food emporium.
They are expected to appeal the decision to An Bord Pleanála, a process that could take a year, with little change likely in the operation of the market in that time.
The decision has caused huge upset for market traders and their customers, and left city councillors demanding answers.
So why did council planners refuse planning for something the council says it wants to see, in an area it wants to develop, in an area earmarked for some €340m in state funding for urban regeneration.
City officials, who have declined to comment, are pointing councillors towards the planning file.
It shows how the Port of Cork and Doyle Shipping Group (DSG) both flagged concerns about what DSG described as the “very significant operational issues and conflicts” that arise from its operation.
DSG supplied photographs of unauthorised parking along Kennedy Quay, of people walking close to heavy port machinery during cargo unloading operations, of people picnicking under cranes, with cars blocking machinery.
It said the market has resulted in Kennedy Quay being turned into a “thoroughfare by the general public” and warned: "If this situation is allowed to continue, it is contended that it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs."
Planning issues like that can be resolved with a little imagination.
But what will be more difficult to address are the issues linked to the market's proximity to a so-called COMAH (Control of Major Accident) site, a designation which emerged following the 2005 Buncefield disaster in England when an oil storage tank was overfilled, leading to the largest explosion in Europe since the Second World War.
It led to significant changes in the way refineries, oil storage depots, and chemical plants operate, and how development around them is managed.
Marina Market is close to the Goulding Chemical site on Centre Park Rd, a Tier 2 COMAH site.
In its submission on the Marina Market application, the Health and Safety Authority advised against the granting of planning, warning that the proposed development, due to its location, could, due to the risk of a major accident or if a major accident was to occur, lead to serious danger to human health or the environment.
Former lord mayor Mick Finn questioned why, if these concerns are significant, were they not flagged before now.
In the meantime, he said a balance between the need for such a great and quirky facility as Marina Market and the absolute priority of public safety needs to be achieved.
Goulding has plans to relocate downstream but there is no timescale for that move.