Members of the public in County Cork are set to be called upon to shape a new development plan for the region.

A new Public Consultation Document will be launched on Thursday, 12 March, highlighting a range of areas the new Plan will need to consider.

It covers a range of topics including Settlements and Placemaking, Community, Rural Housing, Water Services, Energy, Transport and Mobility, Heritage, Tourism, Biodiversity, Climate Change and the Environment.

Marking the launch of the document, the Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Ian Doyle said: "We are hoping to engage as many of our citizens as possible, as early in the plan-making process as possible so they feel they have been given every opportunity to influence the policies that shape their communities. The next plan will focus on revitalising our towns and villages, making them attractive and vibrant places to live and affording people the opportunity to live closer to where they work. The Plan will show how best this can be achieved whilst safeguarding our environment and protecting the natural and cultural assets that make our County unique." 

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A series of public events at locations around the County are being hosted by the Council, where the public and community groups will have the opportunity to speak with Council planning staff about the issues they feel are most important to their locality.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey commented: "There are significant opportunities for the County in terms of the population and jobs targets set out in National and Regional strategy documents and we want to ensure that we have the enabling infrastructure in place to capitalise on these ambitious targets. Our track record shows we can deliver growth and we want to continue to ensure that our plans achieve the greatest social, environmental and economic dividend they can for the entire County."

Written submissions on the new document can be made online or in hardcopy by Thursday 07 May.

(CM/MH)