Harbour plan ‘will not hit prices’

PLANS to develop a €226m container terminal in Cork Harbour will not damage its sailing pursuits or property prices, an oral hearing was told yesterday.

Port of Cork commercial manager Michael McCarthy said the company’s proposed project at Oyster Bank in Ringaskiddy could add to the harbour’s attractions.

“Cork Harbour has enormous potential for marine-based leisure tourism over a vast expanse of water and I firmly believe the co-existence of the commercial and leisure mix and the arrival, departure and berthing of vessels offers a unique attraction into our beautiful harbour and will contribute to its overall tourist attractiveness,” he said.

Mr McCarthy made his comments during his submission to day three of the Bord Pleanála oral hearing. He said the harbour has become internationally known for its successful “leisure-commercial” mix.

“This ‘mix’ is common in many ports throughout the world and is similar to the Port of Southampton’s Solent Waterway, which is a cruise, commercial, leisure port,” he said.

Apart from a collision between a ship and a yacht 10 years ago, there has never been a serious accident, he said.

Harbour master Captain Pat Farnan said the harbour is big enough to accommodate commercial and leisure craft. Since 2003, there have been just six complaints, primarily on the effects of wash from passing vessels, he said.

But he acknowledged the Oyster Bank development will lead to a loss of sailing area for members of Monkstown Bay Sailing Club. Cruisers can take other routes, he said.

Raymond Holbeach of RPS Planning and Environment said cranes used in the container port’s construction, and stacks of containers, as well as moving cranes and ship movements post construction, would provide the greatest visual impact.

However, he admitted following a request from Cork County Council, his firm provided eight extra photomontages showing how the project would look from areas around the lower harbour, which were handed in to the hearing yesterday.

Property expert Frank Ryan, the managing director of DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald, Cork, said he did not think the proposed project would change peoples’ perceptions of property in Ringaskiddy, Monkstown, Black Point (Rushbrook) and Cobh.

He said the lower harbour is an established location for industrial uses and there is a market perception that it will be a more important venue for employment and maritime uses for the future.

He said he was unaware of any market evidence that port activity had any effect on the value of properties in those areas.

“We rebut the suggestion that more remote residential locations from the proposed Ringaskiddy facility will exhibit a discount in market values arising from the proposed development,” he said.

Irish Examiner

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