Great day for the (new) parish.
Cork is about to be getting a new location after plans to develop a new town with a population of up to 13,000 on the northern outskirts of the city were approved by
An Bord Pleanála.
Cork County Council will now be able to create a new town as part of their Monard Strategic Development Zone project, one that's going to be contain a railway station, schools and shops.
After a 4:2 decision at a meeting of the planning appeals board, Monard is going to be Ireland's newest town and it's going to be located on a 391 hectare site that's just 4km away from Blarney. The scheme will include 5,500 units, providing homes for over 12,000 people.
Prior to this decision, concerns had been raised with the planning board about issues regarding infrastructure, water treatment facilities and the necessity to have a new railway station at Monard. Assurances that upwards of €50 million will be spent on public infrastructure have put an end to these though.
It's expected that the project will take 10-15 years to complete but speaking about the new town in the Rebel County, Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr John Paul O'Shea has welcomed the decision in a statement that was released by the
Cork County Council:
"This decision is a significant opportunity to bring forward a major new phase of residential development in Cork which can be based on the most up to date and future proofed models for community development. It also provides for a much welcomed opportunity to rebalance growth in the metropolitan area of Cork building on existing assets of the region."
