CORK CITY COUNCIL has voted in favour of a €6 million regeneration plan for the Morrison’s Island area of the city.

Councillors voted 22 to six in favour of the plan at a meeting tonight.

The move comes despite opposition to flood defences, part of the Office of Public Work’s (OPW) Lower Lee Flood Relief Scheme, included in the plan.

The council said the flood defences “should remove 80% of city centre flooding”. However, the plans have been sharply criticised by some groups.

Save Cork City (SCC) said the scheme will remove “stone parapets and railings throughout the city centre”, describing this as “the largest planned destruction of heritage ever in the State”.

The project was submitted for planning permission on 12 February and almost 1,400 public submissions were received. It also includes the development of an “enhanced plaza area” at the eastern end of Morrisson’s Quay, as well as “significant remedial works to the existing quay walls”.

Flooding 

Cork city has experienced numerous instances of flooding in recent years, with water from tides, the River Lee and drainage systems leading to water on the streets a number of times. It has been estimated that the damage caused in the 2009 river flood and 2014 tidal flood amounted to €90 million and €40 million respectively.

Campaigners recently said that the OPW cannot afford to ignore a report on flood defences in Cork that suggests the office’s estimates are €200 million off. The Irish Examiner reported on the discrepancy last week.

The OPW had said that the SCC plan for a tidal barrier at Little Island would cost anywhere from €400 million to €1 billion. However, a report by experts at TU Delft in the Netherlands, and commissioned by SCC, puts the cost at about €180 million.

With reporting by Paul Hosford