Plan to remove green space and trees from Cork City park criticised
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Cork City Council architects have defended plans for the redevelopment of Bishop Lucey Park amidst criticism regarding the removal of “green space” and mature trees as part of the park’s new design.
Bishop Lucey Park is currently closed to the public until February 21 for preliminary works which include the removal of seven mature trees and the pruning of others.
The redesign of the Cork City landmark by Belfast firm Hall McKnight Architects is part of a €46m overhaul to the Grand Parade Quarter funded by Cork City Council and central government’s Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.
Plans involve replacing approximately one-third of the current grassy ground cover with paving, including a plaza for public events, sparking some criticism on social media platforms.
“I’d like to dispel the notion that what we are doing is concreting over the park,” said senior executive city architect with Cork City Council Cathal O’Boyle. “That’s definitely not what we’re doing.”
“I understand there’s a fear that we’re reducing the green space in Bishop Lucey Park, but in terms of surface cover, the existing green space was no longer green because it is so heavily used. In terms of the plans, there is quite a lot of green in there.”
In May, Cork City Councillors voted to allow planning permission for an extension of the Freemasons’ Hall on neighbouring Tuckey St onto 44 sq m of the park, which is zoned “public open space.” Councillors have yet to vote on the disposal of this land.
Mr O’Boyle said the new park layout, which will remove the current walls and railings, will “improve permeability” and allow access from Grand Parade to the planned Event Centre at the former Beamish and Crawford brewery.
“We ran a competition with the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland to get the best solution for that space,” he said.
The plans involve “substantial replanting and very little actual cutting down of existing trees,” Mr O’Boyle said.
Mr O’Boyle and his colleague, city architect Tony Duggan, were speaking to architecture students at this week’s two-day Future of Cork City symposium held at UCC’s Cork Centre for Architectural Education.
They answered questions on some of Cork City’s most pressing planning issues, including the National Transport Authority’s BusConnects plan, the Save Cork City campaign against the Lower Lee Flood Relief Scheme, and the slow pace of development on sites including the former FÁS building on Sullivan’s Quay, which has planning permission for a 220-bedroom hotel and 8,000 sq m of office space.
There was also a robust presentation on the issue of dereliction, with students launching a Design Anthology booklet of their own plans to reimagine and restore some of the city’s most notorious long-term derelict sites.