PREDICTING THE FUTURE FOR FERMOY & MITCHELSTOWN
Senior planners from Cork County Council were on hand at The Firgrove Hotel this week to outline their strategy for the Fermoy and Mitchelstown areas for the next ten years.
Covering areas such as population, housing, employment and the environment the ‘Local Area Plan Review’ looks at the needs of the people living in the towns of Fermoy and Mitchelstown up to 2020.
For Fermoy, the planners are predicting a growth in population from just over 5,000 people in 2009 to an expected 7,442 by the year 2020. This rise in population will also require an increase in the number of homes in the Fermoy area with a predicted increase of 1,394 units needed by the end of the decade.
The report states that in Fermoy there is sufficient residentially zoned land to accommodate 2,477 housing units.
However, the zoned land to the north and south of the town will require significant investment in infrastructure in order to connect them to the existing services. As for employment in Fermoy, the County Development Plan 2009 has set a target of an increase of 150% in the number of jobs in the town by 2020.
The plan also stresses the need to make additional land available for industrial use if this target is to be reached.
In Mitchelstown, the local area plan predicts that almost 2,000 more people will be living within the town and its environs by 2020. Almost 1,500 more housing units will be required by the end of the decade.
As with Fermoy the planner feel that there is sufficient residentially zoned land available to accommodate this growth in the town.
However, unlike Fermoy a target of 40% growth in the numbers of jobs has been predicted for Mitchelstown. The report states, ‘A total of 77ha of land has been zoned for employment (in Mitchelstown). Since 2003, 14ha of this land has been developed but some of the developed units remain vacant.’
A total of 63ha of land remains undeveloped and as such the planners feel that there is sufficient industrially zoned land in the town and it environs.
For more information or to download a copy of the Fermoy Electoral Area Local Area Plan review and outline strategy 2010 to 2020 log on to www.corkcoco.ie or contact the planning policy unit at Cork County Council on 021 4276891.
Published:
Thursday 4th February 6:54pm
