Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2023
188. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the timeline for the north-west quarter regeneration in Cork city; the current spend to date; the original projected spend; and the current projected spend on completion of the project. [40865/23]
View answerThe detailed advancement of housing and other works under the Cork City North West Quarter Regeneration (CNWQR) programme is a matter, in the first instance, for Cork City Council.
I have been advised by them that the project is progressing under several strands and significant progress has been made in the advancement of this regeneration programme.
The Cork North-West Quarter Regeneration Programme (CNWQR) is a major project of regeneration under the lead and control of Cork City Council in the northwest area of Cork City. It involves the demolition of 450 houses and their replacement by 656 new housing units as well as a range of social, environmental and economic interventions.
The initial starting point to this regeneration project was when the CNWQR Masterplan & Implementation Report was published in 2011. The strategy outlined a departure from previous policy, with a proposal to carry out wholesale demolition of the housing stock in Knocknaheeny that has not been the subject of previous refurbishment works.
However, my Department in tandem with Cork City Council, recognised that for the project to be successful then there was a need to put in place a comprehensive, strategic plan. To that end, together with the physical development of housing solutions, my Department is funding projects as part of the Social Economic and Environment Plan (SEEP) project.
This is complementary to the ten year regeneration Masterplan for the City North West Quarter. The SEEP was informed by a review of existing research, local area plans, information from statutory and NGO agencies, demographic and socio-economic data, baselines of existing conditions in the area, and consultation with local people through RAPID community consultation structures. On the basis of these multiple information sources a number of core themes were identified as priorities for the SEEP:
Theme 1: Family Support and Early Childhood Development,
Theme 2: Community Safety
Theme 3: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning
Theme 4: Health
Theme 5: Youth and Sports
Theme 6: Environment
Theme 7: Balancing Communities
Theme 8: Social Cohesion and Capacity Building
Theme 9: Economic Development
Theme 10: Transport and Connectivity
Cork City Council advise that work is progressing under all of these strands and some examples of these schemes are below:
• Re enforcement of Community facilities: uses such as Health and Wellbeing Education Centre, Multi Purpose Arena (Boxing Club) and Flexible Community Spaces as part of mixed use blocks, Primary Health Care and GP Training Facility.
• Education and learning facilities – Creation of education facilities in partnership with third level institutes.
• The creation of a high quality network of residential streets appropriately balancing the needs of all users.
• Improving street layout to promote permeability.
• Creating a high quality network open space; linking passive areas of open space on the southern part of the regeneration area to active recreational areas to the north.
• Ensuring that all new dwellings have access to private amenity spaces.
• The establishment of a design guide and public realm strategy to establish quality benchmarks and to ensure a coherent visual effect by balancing hard and soft landscaping in line with good urban design principles will be a priority.
Social Housing development update of timelines and costs
To date my Department has approved sanctioned costs for the eight Social Housing projects that comprise the CNWQR to date is approx. €92m, as broken down in the table below.
|
Project Name |
Units |
Projected or Actual Substantial Completion |
Project Funding Status |
Construction Status |
Sanctioned Costs |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeny Phase 1B |
29 |
01/11/2017 |
Complete |
Completed |
€5.5m |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeny Phase 2A |
47 |
31/12/2019 |
Complete |
Completed |
€12.5m |
|
Foyle Avenue Infill Housing Development, Knocknaheeny, Cork |
2 |
06/07/2023 |
Stage 4 Approved |
Onsite |
€1m |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeny Phase 2B |
38 |
13/05/2024 |
Stage 4 Approved |
Onsite |
€15m |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeny Phase 1C |
41 |
13/05/2024 |
Stage 4 Approved |
Onsite |
€16m |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeney Phase 2C |
24 |
30/06/2024 |
Stage 4 Approved |
Onsite |
€6.6m |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeny Phase 3B |
62 |
01/08/2025 |
Stage 2 Approved |
Not Started |
€21m |
|
CNWQR Knocknaheeny Phase 4A |
43 |
12/05/2025 |
Stage 2 Approved |
Not Started |
€13.5m |
My Department has been advised by Cork City Council that Phase 1C (41 units) and Phase 2B (38 units) have recently commenced construction with projected delivery in Q2 2024
Phases 3B (62 units) and 4A (43 units) received Part 8 Planning approval in 2022 and are at the detailed design phase and are expected to complete in Q2 and Q3 of 2025. In that regard, Phase 3 demolition works are substantially complete at Knocknaheeny Avenue and Harbour View Road, and Cork City Council advise that they are engaged in an ongoing decant of homeowners and tenants in Phases 3 and 4.
My Department awaits funding submissions and programme dates for the remaining phases. Cork City Council advise that the CNWQR programme runs until 2027, and it is envisaged that projects will be ongoing until this date.
My Department would welcome and review all submissions from Cork City Council to aid in the regeneration programme.
To date a total of approx. €28m has been recouped by Cork City to date for construction. In addition approx. €3.4m has been recouped by Cork City Council for the following programmes including SEEP, enabling works, water diversions, staffing administration and project management costs.
