Business leaders and city management welcome ruling on Cork flood relief scheme

Business leaders and city management in Cork have welcomed a Supreme Court ruling that has given the go-ahead for a section of the €150 million OPW flood relief scheme for Cork, designed to protect some of the most vulnerable parts of the city centre.

The Supreme Court ruling has ended a challenge brought by the Save Cork City Community Association (SCCA) CLG relating to the planning consent issued by An Bord Pleanála for the €6 million Morrison’s Island Public Realm and Flood Defence Scheme in Cork City centre.

The ruling paves the way for work to proceed on the project which, according to Cork City Council, will now go out to tender in the second quarter of next year with construction work on the project expected to start before the end of 2023, five years after the proposed plan was first launched.

The ruling was welcomed by the Cork Business Association whose president, Kevin Herlihy, said the challenge by CSSA had delayed the project by several years, adding that he hoped work could start next year.

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“It’s critical to the whole island that is the city centre – not just Morrison’s Island because when flood waters come up from the south channel and spill over the centre of the South Mall, then it’s flowing down all the side streets and into Oliver Plunkett Street with devastating effects,” he said.

“There isn’t a shop on Oliver Plunkett Street with flood insurance because of all the floods over the years – the research has been done and this seems to be the most practical solution, so we are just hoping the campaigners will accept this and we can drive on and get the work done.”

Cork City Council Chief Executive Ann Doherty welcomed the Supreme Court judgment, which she said will provide an opportunity to revitalise and regenerate the area between the South Mall and the south channel of the River Lee from Parliament Bridge to Parnell Bridge.

“The Morrison’s Island scheme will transform this part of Cork City and will deliver a high-quality public space at Parnell Plaza as well as an inviting quayside promenade. The area has so much more to offer, and Cork City Council intends to unlock that potential,” she said.

In June 2020, An Bord Pleanála granted permission for remedial works to the quay walls and the construction of improvement works and flood defence works between Parliament Bridge and Parnell Bridge along Morrison’s Quay and Fr Matthew Quay, and along a short section of Union Quay.

The SCCA group mounted a legal challenge in the High Court but Mr Justice Richard Humphreys found it had not made out grounds for an order quashing the permission granted to Cork City Council for the works. He also ruled that the group was not entitled to a stay on the works.

The group then lodged a leapfrog appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn Mr Justice Humphreys’ refusal to strike out a planning permission granted by An Bord Pleanála but the Supreme Court ruled Mr Justice Humphreys was correct in his decision.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Séamus Woulfe said he agreed with the High Court that An Bord Pleanála has jurisdiction to conduct a screening for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in an application made under a section of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton, Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan and Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne all agreed on the ruling, resulting the appeal by CSSA, which was against An Bord Pleanála, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Attorney General, to be dismissed.

The Morrison’s Island Public Realm and Flood Defence Project, which involves the repair of about 500 metres of quay walls and the construction of a three metre-wide riverside promenade, is part of the proposed OPW Lower Lee Flood Relief Scheme, drawn up after the 2009 flood that devastated the city.