Cork Docklands Development Forum

The regeneration of Cork Docklands was highlighted in the National Development Plan, which recognised that the area has the capacity to accommodate an additional residential population of at least 15,000 people, to include a mix of both social and affordable housing units. The regeneration of this area will also result in significant commercial activity with associated job creation opportunities.

The Cork Docklands Development Forum was established by the Government in December 2007 and was chaired by Professor Gerry Wrixon. The Government decision indicated that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment would be answerable to Dáil Eireann in respect of the activities of the Forum.

The role of the Forum was to promote the effective coordination and delivery of sustainable investment by the State, particularly in roads, water services, port relocation and associated infrastructure to facilitate docklands regeneration, in order to incentivise private investment.

The Forum was also tasked with addressing options in relation to incentives to overcome key barriers to the development of the area. A priority of the Forum was to address how Government Departments, Local Authorities and State Agencies area would be best coordinated and driven in the realisation of the Cork Docklands vision.

The Department of Enterprise Trade & Innovation submitted the Cork Docklands Development Forum report to Cabinet in July 2008 asking Government to note the recommendations contained in the report and agree to its publication.

The Government decision noted the recommendations and agreed to establish an interdepartmental group, chaired by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG,), to develop a response to the Report; in particular to the proposal for the establishment of a Special Purpose Agency to work closely with Cork City Council to ensure the timely and efficient realisation of the overall vision for Cork Docklands set out in the report; and also to consider whether the report should be published.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG) recently published the Forum's final report on its website and a copy is now available below under Related Documents.

Key documents, including agreed minutes of Forum meetings, are available on this website.

For further information on the work of the Forum, contact

Seamus Grehan at, Ph: 6312474. e-mail: seamus.grehan@deti.ie

Additional information on the South City Docklands can be found on the Cork City Council website at:

www.corkcity.ie/docklands/sitemap