Cork County Development Plan 2022–2028 – Volume One: Main Policy Material

1. Page 71

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   71 Placemaking Principles 3.1.8 There are seven key principles of placemaking. These are detailed in Table 3.1. The Plan aims to improve the quality of County Cork’s town and village environments and encourage a high standard of design in all new developments. New development will be required to adhere to the principles of “Placemaking” in order to achieve permeable, well connected, safe and sustainable built and natural environments which enriches and nurtures our community life and contributes positively to the special character and heritage of the County’s varied town and villagescapes. Table 3.1: Principles of Placemaking Theme Strategic Objectives Local Outcomes Character and Identity To promote local character within the townscape and villagescape of Cork County’s settlement network by responding to and reinforcing locally distinctive patterns of development, landscape and culture and protecting the historic environment. Elements of local distinctiveness such as local materials, building forms and elements including fenestration patterns, awnings, roof profiles and features should inform the design and detailing of new development and reinforce the palette of the existing place. For example the use of wall hung slates on building facades in Kinsale are a local distinctive feature of the town’s character and similarly 1st floor bay windows on Thomas Davis Street, Mallow is a unique response to the town’s historic function as a Spa town. Continuity and Enclosure To promote the continuity of street frontages and the enclosure of space by development which clearly defines private and public areas and promotes active frontages at street level. Consistent building lines are required to create a strong street frontage, to provide enclosure to a street or square and generates active frontages with frequent doors and windows. Boundaries are also important elements to enclose space and should be designed and constructed to reflect its local context of either natural stone construction in local traditional style or clearly modern style stone wall or capped and plastered concrete walls. Quality of the Public Realm/ Open Space To promote public spaces and routes that are attractive, safe, uncluttered are sensitively integrated into the natural environment, facilitate sustainable access for the public to nature, and work effectively for all in society, including disabled and older people. The best public spaces often have nodes of activity complimented by quiet zones, stimulate the senses, use quality local materials, are sensitively integrated into the natural environment, have built-in versatility and are complimented by a coherent street furniture, lighting and signage strategy e.g. Clonakilty. Ease of Movement To promote accessibility and local permeability by making places that connect with each other and are easy to move through, putting people before traffic and integrating land uses and transport. Streets and routes should be direct, overlooked, barrier-free and measures used to slow traffic down to encourage pedestrian and cycling safety. Use of DMURS to apply at all settlement levels. Legibility To promote legibility through development that provides recognisable routes, intersections and landmarks to help people find their way around. Emphasise the hierarchy of place with a graduation of building heights and density from the core, framing views and landmarks and creating new focal points. Adaptability To promote adaptability through development that can respond to changing social, technological and economic conditions. Maintain separate own door access to upper floors of buildings in the town/ village centre to maintain vertical mixed use profiles and future proof the building’s adaptability. Diversity and Vibrancy To promote diversity and choice through a mix of compatible developments and uses that work together to create viable places that respond to local needs. To ensure the town and village cores contain a mix of residential, social and economic uses to maintain a vibrancy beyond business hours. A variety of house typologies, sizes and tenures are also required to meet the differing needs of the population profile. 3.1.9 The Plan provides a policy framework with supplementary guidance and design standards to encourage Placemaking at a strategic level by directing the right type of development and land use to the right place, and at local level by promoting a design-led approach to an agreed set of Placemaking principles and insisting on high quality development that embodies the special characteristics of Cork County’s diverse towns and villages. GO TO CONTENTS

2. Page 72

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   72 3.2 Urban Capacity Study 3.2.1 Cork County Council undertook an Urban Capacity Study of the town centre areas of the nine former town council towns of Cobh, Clonakilty, Fermoy, Kinsale, Mallow, Macroom, Midleton, Skibbereen and Youghal, and the town of Bantry in 2018/2019. The study identified that approximately 2,000 additional units could be delivered in the heart of our towns through a combination of Living Over the Shop initiatives, targeting vacancy, providing infill units within the fabric of our towns and rejuvenating under-utilised and derelict brownfield land. Similar capacity is likely to exist in the other towns of the county. It is important that this potential for development is tapped into in the context of achieving the compact growth and higher density development objectives of the National Planning Framework and delivering at least 30% of all new homes within the existing built footprint of our settlements. The data gathered to date can help inform local stakeholder collaboration and the creation of a shared vision at a local level for the regeneration of our towns and measurable actions, as advocated under the Town Centre First policy. See Chapter 9 Town Centres and Retail. 3.2.2 The Plan acknowledges that compact growth opportunities need to be supported by a wider programme of targeted investment in the enhancement of the public realm, public parks and amenity spaces and regeneration of the settlements as a whole. Recommendations in this regard are included in Background Document No 3 - Urban Capacity Study and the Bringing Back Homes Initiative by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 3.3 Understanding the Urban Structure of our Settlements 3.3.1 Cork County’s settlement network is made up of settlements of different historic origin, some planned, while others have evolved in a more organic way. The framework of routes and spaces that connect locally and more widely, and the way developments, routes and open spaces relate to one other are all an intrinsic part of the town or villages urban structure. The National Planning Framework requirements to deliver at least one third of development within the built envelope of our settlements means understanding the way they are structured and function is critical to the delivery of compact growth and greater population uplift in the heart of our settlements. This Chapter includes a comprehensive set of policies and guidelines to ensure new development proposals have a clear set of standards to follow which reinforces the unique character of their locality. 3.3.2 There are two predominant historic settlement types: • Medieval Settlements with an organic or herringbone development format at its core transversed by laneways and may contain defences. Streets are narrow and buildings usually 2-3 storeys high as can be seen on the plan and image of Market Street, Kinsale. See Figures 3.2 and 3.3. • Planned Settlements with a formal urban structure, usually of perimeter block format transacted by laneways and pends within the block format e.g. Fermoy. Streets are wider with a corresponding increase in building height to 3- 4 storeys, landmark buildings are deliberately placed at street nodes and vistas revealed within the streetscape. Market places and formal public open spaces are incorporated into the heart of the town. Figure 3.2: Plan of Market St. Kinsale Figure 3.3 Corresponding photo of Market Street, Kinsale showing the organic, Medieval street pattern. GO TO CONTENTS

3. Page 73

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   73 Figure 3.4 Plan of formal perimeter block, Fermoy. Figure 3.5 Image of pend Block and plot size 3.3.1 Urban grain relates to the pattern of the arrangement of street blocks, plots and their buildings in a settlement. The degree to which an area’s pattern of blocks and plot subdivisions is respectively small and frequent (fine grain), or large and infrequent (coarse grain) often relates to the historic period in which a settlement was built. Medieval Towns like Youghal, Kinsale and Buttevant have a fine grained pattern of development within its core comprising of narrow building frontages. Later planned towns such as Fermoy, Midleton, Bandon and Bantry have a coarser grain with larger buildings arranged along wider streets and squares. 3.4 Movement and Public Realm 3.4.1 The layout of the County’s urban areas provides the basic plan on which all other aspects of the form and uses of a development depend. The function of our streets and public realm is a fundamental element of an area’s urban structure. Historically streets were shared spaces for pedestrians, transporting goods and a meeting place for important social gatherings such as horse fairs, carnivals and markets. Since the advent of the car, the street has become increasingly segregated to facilitate transport vehicles and parking with pedestrians and cyclists relegated to narrow pavements adjoining the building facades. Quality of Public Realm 3.4.2 The public realm is made up of the parts of a town or village that are available, without special charge, for use by everyone. This can include streets, parks, squares, arcades and public buildings, whether publicly or privately owned. It provides the setting not only for everyday life, but also for more formal civic occasions. It is enlarged and enriched by developments designed to welcome a broad range of people, and by creative management. The RIAI toolkit is a useful document to promoting a design-led approach to improving the public realm of our towns and villages. 3.4.3 The design of public spaces should facilitate a variety of needs through, for example, providing play opportunity for children, rest stops for older people and navigable surfaces and finishes to assist people with a disability. Safety is a key element to the delivery of successful public space use. Supervision of a space and lighting design are two key elements that need consideration in the design and function of the public realm. The choice of lighting source and its design can perform an important function within the legibility of an urban area and aid the safety and comfort of the user. Lighting can also help generate alternative urban experiences in public spaces adding to the distinctiveness of a place. 3.4.4 Good quality public realm can raise the profile of a town, resulting in the attraction of inward investment. Cork County Council has been commended for a number of high quality town centre public realm intervention in Clonakilty, Mallow and Killeagh, which have added to the attractiveness of these urban areas as a place to live, shop and visit. 3.4.5 The RSES advocates investment in sustainable mobility and enhancing the quality of the public realm to support successful urban living and the achievement of compact growth in settlements of all scale. The Council will promote improved accessibility to existing and planned residential support infrastructure such as schools and healthcare facilities by way of walking and cycling and/or public transport. It is therefore key that new developments are capable of incorporating appropriate linkages to such facilities in their design. GO TO CONTENTS

4. Page 74

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   74 The Movement Network 3.4.6 Our road and street network is cumulatively our biggest public space asset within the County. The Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS) is an important guide in the consideration of walking and cycling routes and should be used with the perimeter block design principle. Chapter 12, Transport and Mobility addresses polices in relation to the provision of walking and cycling routes. There are now additional areas within DMURS that are central to Placemaking and wider urban policy including the need to reinforce the “place function of our streets” together with a “minimal signage” approach on local streets to allow self-regulation and results in lower speeds. These policy updates will result in a more pleasant town centre environment in which to sit and linger and also puts the human experience at the heart of the design process. The design of direct walking and cycling routes are therefore promoted above the use of the car for shorter trips in the design of residential layouts. 3.4.7 The Plan advocates that new development respects the established permeability character of the settlement. This includes undertaking an analysis of street layouts, laneways and pends to inform the appropriate movement response on-site. Proposals that result in the loss of laneways or connectivity will normally not be permitted. The design of new residential areas shall provide for direct pedestrian and cyclist access to adjoining developments and apply the DMURS Standards as advocated in Chapter 12 Transport and Mobility. County Development Plan Objective PL 3-1: Building Design, Movement and Quality of the Public Realm Support measures to improve building design quality, accessibility and movement including investment in quality public realm across the settlement network of the County linked to the following design criteria: a. To achieve/ reinforce a better sense of place and distinctiveness strengthening local character. b. Create a design that is sensitive to the history and heritage context of a town / village settingand provides for protection of heritage features and non structural heritage that are important and intrinsic part of the distinctiveness and character of the settlement such as historic boundaries (stone and earthen), pillars and gates, street furnishing, paving and kerbing, trees, hedgerows; c. Ground floor buildings within the town centre should aim to have a 4m floor to ceiling height, where possible, to facilitate active ground floor uses. d. The use of awnings should be utilized in a manner that respects and enhances the historic town centre environment and adds to the town centre experience. e. New buildings should provide for high quality, local material choice and the design shall draw on the local architectural language of place and reinterpret these in a contemporary manner. f. Promote enhanced and increased public realm opportunities including a shared use of spaces, for outdoor experiences, with a priority on pedestrian usage. g. Provide multi-functional spaces suitable for all age cohorts in the community and capable of accommodating cultural events. h. Develop and strengthen the use of the green and blue infrastructure in a town / village setting including the retention and enhancement of existing trees and landscape features, the use of SUDs and permeable paving to achieve climate adaptable places. i. Achieve inclusive public realm working from the centre of a town / village setting which minimizes clutter and maximises opportunities for active mobility. j. Achieve permeability and connectivity in town centre / village locations which contributes to the 10 Minute Town Concept and Sustainable Neighbourhood Infrastructure. The loss of existing laneways will normally not be permitted. k. Delivers legible routes and urban way finding in the larger towns. l. Ensure universal design standards are achievable. m. Ensure that the aged community and the needs of all ages are facilitated, e.g., through the provision of seating areas and public toilet facilities. n. Consider the impacts, positive and negative, of lighting within the public realm which performs an important safety function and can be an aid to the legibility and distinctiveness of a place. Lighting should be designed to minimise negative effects on wildlife. See also Chapter 15 Biodiversity and Environment including paragraph 15.11.3 and Objectives BE 15-13(d) and (e). o. Encourage and facilitate the creation and use of public realm and outdoor spaces for outdoor dining in line with Fáilte Ireland’s new Outdoor Dining Enhancement Investment Scheme. GO TO CONTENTS

5. Page 75

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   75 Mix and Density 3.4.8 Activity levels in urban areas are directly linked to their density of development, mix of uses and the design of the urban structure. Pedestrian activity or street life increases in urban areas that can be defined as “walkable” and where residential use is located within the town centre mix. The Plan focusses on the delivery of at least 30% of the growth target to within the built envelope of the settlement network to enrich the town centre mix, provide a broader range of residential typologies within the County and contribute to Climate Action Goals. 3.4.9 Within the past half century, a substantial amount of residential growth occurred on greenfield, edge of centre lands and the residential proportion of town centres has contracted. By targeting at least one third of future residential growth to the heart of our towns and villages, the Plan is ensuring activity levels in town centres stretch beyond business hours, is providing safer streets through passive surveillance and is focussing on optimising the existing building stock. The way in which this will be achieved is discussed in Section 3.5 of this Chapter. 3.4.10 A tiered approach to density is advocated in the Plan to reflect the urban structure and the town’s location within the Settlement Typology hierarchy. See Chapter 4 Housing, Section 4.6. 3.5 Encouraging Sustainable and Resilient Places 3.5.1 The Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Southern Region recognises the importance of a participatory approach to local planning in the delivery of sustainability and resilience in the future planning of our settlements. It is now required that the Plan includes objectives to provide for and implement a Sustainable Place Framework. This needs to ensure the development of quality places through integrated planning, excellent design and is linked to the Placemaking Principles outlined in this chapter. 3.5.2 An integrated planning approach to ensure that employment, infrastructure, services and housing supply are considered together is essential in the land use choices and sequencing of new development, especially areas identified for significant expansion or change. The role of education, learning and health in providing inclusive, dynamic and adaptable urban environments must also be included in sustainable place frameworks and will inform zoning choices at a settlement level. 3.5.3 The need to retrofit infrastructure and environmental amenities to address deficits across the settlement network is also recognised. At a site level, the role of the existing building stock, brownfield lands and infill sites are an integral part of delivering sustainable growth within the built envelope of our towns and villages. There will also be opportunities for the upgrading and future proofing of the building stock to cater for smart technologies, energy / fuel upgrades etc. The Urban Capacity Study has already established a database of potential sources development opportunities within our towns and this has informed the placemaking policy and zoning direction in the relevant towns. 3.5.4 The use of soft and green landscaping including the retention of trees and existing landscape features, tree planting, soft planting, opportunities for play, use of water, and the potential for SuDS within a scheme are important factors in creating resilient and climate adapatable places. The use of permeable paving in hard landscaping design also has a role to play in creating more sustainable places. The design of the built environment and public realm therefore, needs to ensure opportunities for retention and introduction of soft and green landscaping which could also enhance local biodiversity, are enshrined in the design process from the outset. See Chapter 14 Green Infrastructure and Recreation and Chapter 15 Biodiversity and Environment. 3.5.5 The resilience of our settlement network to respond to changing circumstances, needs and intensity of use is central to supporting communities and economic activity through cyclical periods of economic expansion and contraction and in the face of new challenges posed by a global health pandemic. Cork County’s historic town centre building stock has been designed to support a flexible mix of uses through the past number of centuries. Buildings were designed with a 4m floor to ceiling height at ground floor level with a separate access to the upper floors to accommodate residential or other business uses. The Urban Capacity Study has highlighted that this vertical mix of uses is still prevalent in our town centres today and there are significant opportunities to introduce further compatible uses (residential or other uses) into the upper floors of the existing building stock. 3.5.6 The data gathered to date by the Urban Capacity Study is aligned with Government’s ‘Town Centre First’ policy approach and the Town Centre Health Check research. This seeks to ensure that towns become vibrant places for living and working in, by identifying and addressing the blight of underused and vacant units within the existing building stock. 3.5.7 Cork County Council through the Municipal Districts have prepared a number of Town Framework Plans which are an important part of the Placemaking delivery toolkit. These are area based action plans based on a number of themes. To date Town Framework Plans have been prepared for Kanturk, Mitchelstown and Passage West. GO TO CONTENTS

6. Page 76

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   76 Delivering Compact Growth within the Built Envelope 3.5.8 The findings of the Urban Capacity Study have created a detailed evidence base of urban opportunities including identifying gap sites for infill housing, brownfield opportunity sites and vacant units that can contribute to the compact growth of our towns. These will inform the new policy and zoning regime in the Plan. Cork County Council recognises that urban and brownfield sites are often more challenging to develop due to their proximity to existing development, complex and multiple land ownership, location within a sensitive historic environment and can demand increased costs due to parking provision and construction methods. 3.5.9 While some of these issues are outside the scope of the Planning Authority, policies are included to encourage a greater proportion of development within the built envelope of our towns and villages including new policies on supporting Living Over The Shop, Infill Housing and Opportunity Sites and additional guidance to assist the development of complex urban sites, considered a priority or which can act as a catalyst for town centre development (See PL 3-2 and Table 3.2). Other incentives in the Plan include a relaxation in the provision of on-site parking or a monetary contribution in lieu of car parking where the development involves the reuse/refurbishment of an existing occupied or vacant building, any change of use, or where small scale infill developments (including residential) are proposed within the town/village built envelope of our settlement network. See Chapter 12 Transport and Mobility. 3.5.10 Cork County Council will continue to fund and deliver a multiplicity of projects to enhance the town and village network for the communities of County Cork. Funding has recently been secured for a number of public realm enhancement works and public service projects across the County which will contribute positively to the urban environments of County Cork and raise the profile and quality of these places. Reuse of Uppers Floors 3.5.11 The Plan recognises the importance of reusing the upper floors of the existing building stock within our towns in villages so as to contribute to mixed use centres and providing a range of residential units within the heart of our communities. The Plan, therefore, protects the separate own door access within the street/ foyer to the upper floors and encourages the reuse of vacant floorspace for residential and other compatible town centre uses. 3.5.12 The Urban Capacity Study has recorded a variety of upper floor residential formats, including the traditional family apartment which span a number of floors. Within protected structures, the Planning Authority generally resists the subdivision of single residential units in the upper floors of buildings in order to protect the character of buildings of special architectural, social and cultural value and to ensure a variety of affordable residential unit types are available within our town and village centres. Infill housing 3.5.13 To make the most sustainable use of existing urban land within the built envelope of a settlement, the planning authority will encourage the development of infill housing on suitable sites, subject to adherence to residential amenity standards and avoiding any undue impacts on the established character of an area. The layout and design of infill schemes should respect existing building lines and should generally follow established roof profiles, buildings heights and use of materials within the street. 3.5.14 Infill housing is often suitable as starter homes or housing for older people given their size and locations in central locations close to services and amenities. 3.5.15 In general, infill housing should comply with all relevant development plan standards for residential development, however, in certain limited circumstances; the planning authority may relax the normal planning standards in the interest of developing vacant, derelict and underutilised land. Opportunity Sites 3.5.16 The Plan places a strong focus on Opportunity Sites within towns and villages which can contribute to the compact growth and sustainable development of its settlement network. These can comprise of a variety of site categories including under-utilised brownfield lands, vacant and derelict buildings/sites and institutional lands comprising of heritage buildings. They can range in size from small plots to large areas of backlands capable of being transformational in nature and may be suitable for single or a mixture of uses, depending on its scale, location and building design. It is also important to recognise the potential of brownfield sites and heritage buildings in rural areas in the County and their contribution to climate action goals in the re-use and revitalisation of vacant buildings, derelict or brownfield land. GO TO CONTENTS

7. Page 77

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   77 3.5.17 The Plan encourages the use of contemporary design responses which draws on the local character elements in the town or village to reinforce a sense of place. In larger sites, new routes, pends and movement networks should follow the established movement grid of the historic core. Historic maps should be referenced to inform the location of any historic laneways/routes that may have existed previously and should be reinstated. Blocks should be laid out to reflect the existing perimeter block layout and where possible building elements within it should be expressed to follow the rhythm of the existing street character (e.g. vertical windows, roofscape profile, materials and in mixed use schemes the inclusion of a second door access to the upper level). 3.5.18 The Plan recognises that urban sites can often contain legacy issues and involve multiple landowners and the resolution of complex design issues. It is therefore, deemed appropriate to prepare design briefs for certain priority sites to help define the planning and design parameters and guide future development in a co-ordinated and collaborative way. The Plan therefore supports RSES objectives to establish a database with site briefs specifically for brownfield sites zoned for development which will need to be continually renewed and updated as opportunities arise though active land management processes, so that brownfield reuse can be managed and coordinated across multiple stakeholders County Development Plan Objective PL 3-2: Encouraging Sustainable and Resilient Places As part of the Council’s commitment to deliver compact growth and resilient places, the Plan supports a. The use of the upper floors of the existing town centre building stock for appropriate uses, including Living Over The Shop. The separate access to the upper floors should normally be retained; b. The development of brownfield, infill and under-utilised lands within the built envelope of the existing settlement network; c. Addressing vacancy within the existing building stock; d. The preparation of additional guidance for priority town centre sites to aid land activation over the Plan period; e. The establishment of a database of brownfield, opportunity and regeneration-sites in order to manage and coordinate active land management priorities across multiple stakeholders on an ongoing basis. f. Supports the re-use and revitalisation of brownfield sites and heritage buildings in both urban and rural areas in the County. Provision of Serviced Sites 3.5.19 Cork County Council will seek support and investment for the sustainable development of a new homes in small towns and villages initiative working in partnership with Irish Water, local communities and other stakeholders in the provision of services and serviced sites to create “build your own home” opportunities within the existing footprint of smaller towns, key villages and villages to ensure a sustainable and appropriate spread of development between towns and villages within the County. Density, Residential Mix and Building Typologies 3.5.20 Housing will be required to cater for existing and changing population requirements, such as social and affordable housing, student housing, renewal/upgrade and replacement of existing stock, smaller family sizes, an ageing population, and adult children living at home longer, remote working, with resultant requirements for additional housing responses. 3.5.21 The mix of housing demand is changing dramatically which will need targeted policy intervention to cater for 1-2 person households and the needs of an ageing population across the County. Coupled with this, Ireland has some of the lowest density urban areas in the developed world and this constrains housing delivery. Therefore there is a need to set out clear policies which deliver a better mix of house types and sizes and facilitates increased densities. GO TO CONTENTS

8. Page 78

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   78 County Development Plan Objective PL 3-3: Delivering Quality and Inclusive Places In assessing future development proposals the Plan will implement and promote a series of aims outlined in the Guidelines on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas and accompanying Urban Design Manual and the Design Standards for New Apartments, which seek to create high quality inclusive places including: a. To achieve/ reinforce a better sense of place and distinctiveness therefore, strengthening local character; b. Prioritise walking, cycling and public transport, and minimise the need to use cars; c. Deliver a quality of life which residents and visitors are entitled to expect, in terms of amenity, safety and convenience; d. Provide a good range of community and support facilities, where and when they are needed; e. Present an attractive, well maintained appearance, with a distinct sense of place and a quality public realm; f. Easy to access and navigate through the delivery of a clear urban structure including landmarks and vistas; g. Promote the efficient use of land and energy and minimise greenhouse gas emissions; h. Provide a mix of land uses (where relevant) to minimise transport demand; i. Promote social integration and provide accommodation for a diverse range of household types and age groups; and j. Enhance and protect the built and natural heritage. 3.6 Planning for Culture and Creativity 3.6.1 Arts and Cultural facilities not only contribute to the artistic, social and general quality of life of communities but also attract visitors and investment to the area. In County Cork we have an established network of cultural infrastructure and the provision of these facilities has both positive social, and health and wellbeing impacts. See also Chapter 16 Built and Cultural Heritage. 3.6.2 There has also been a recent resurgence in food and craft markets and temporary, pop up crafts outlets reflecting the diverse artisan food producers in the County and well established craft sector. Cork County Council recognises that there are gaps in the provision of cultural infrastructure across the county and aims to address where there are clear geographical deficits. 3.6.3 Cork County Council wishes to continue to support the expansion of creative floorspace and facilities throughout the County. The town centre areas are generally the most appropriate locations for artist studios, creative hubs and cultural workplaces where people can access art spaces and venues on foot, by public transport or where parking is available. 3.6.4 There has also been a number of successful conversion of historic buildings for cultural uses. The Council will continue to support the reuse of historic buildings for cultural uses. 3.6.5 The public realm and public parks can also provide important venues for cultural events and festivals and can add to the attractiveness of a town as a destination. The experience of the Covid -19 pandemic has also demonstrated the need for the provision of well designed, traffic and noise free spaces in which performances and creative activities can safely take place. The Arts as a Revitalisation Tool 3.6.6 Many of our towns and villages have seen a decline in traditional commercial activity. This has resulted in the closure of business premises and a corresponding increase in vacancy levels. The creative sector has much to contribute to the revitalisation programmes by being able to work collaboratively with business and community groups, develop and deliver public events that present a positive and welcoming image and initiate micro enterprises that provide employment opportunities within the heart of our settlement network. The sector is by nature collaborative, drawing together people from a range of backgrounds and contributing to development of ideas, enterprise, production and social innovation. 3.6.7 The Plan supports the designation of a cultural quarters as part of a wider programme of targeted regeneration measures. Appropriate locations could include lands identified as Regeneration Areas across the County including town GO TO CONTENTS

9. Page 79

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   79 centre locations where regeneration of a block/ series of land parcels could facilitate such cultural land-use activities, subject to satisfying environmental considerations. The concept of a cultural quarter is not new while it would present new ways in which part of town centres could be prioritised for development of cultural activities and services. Public Art and Placemaking 3.6.8 Public Art has the capacity to add significant value to the public realm and contribute positively to placemaking, community pride and to civic engagement in the design process. Public art has the capacity to enable artists to respond imaginatively to the local context thereby reinforcing a sense of place. 3.6.9 Cork County Council values the role of public art in the future development of our settlements, as it contributes to legibility of a place and positively to the built environment. Over the lifetime of the Plan it is an objective to prepare a Public Art Strategy, in consultation with, or by the County Arts Office to inform decision-making in the commissioning of Public Art throughout the County. See also Chapter 16 Built and Cultural Heritage relating to public art. County Development Plan Objective PL 3-4: Placemaking and The Arts The Plan recognises the value that the Arts sector can have on creating distinctive places and raising the quality of life for communities across County Cork. The Plan supports: a. The expansion of creative floorspace and facilities throughout the settlement network and addressing gaps where prevalent; b. The reuse of historic buildings for cultural use; c. Where appropriate, identify the designation of a cultural quarter as part of any large scale town expansion or regeneration programme, including sites identified as Regeneration Areas; d. Reinforce a sense of place through the use of quality public realm materials, lighting design and street furniture to create a distinctive place. 3.7 Placemaking and Enterprise Development 3.7.1 Placemaking also has an important role in the layout and design of Enterprise development across the settlement network of County Cork. Design responses at these locations shall use tools such as Health Place Audits for Placemaking and should refer to Table 3.1 Principles of Placemaking to guide an appropriate response on-site, ensuring well-connected, permeable and legible enterprise zones. 3.8 Rural Placemaking 3.8.1 The rural villages and areas of County Cork also have distinctive placemaking elements which are an intrinsic part of the County’s heritage and require recognition and protection as part of the County’s future development framework. Rural settlements can vary in size and form from planned, formal settlements to organic clusters. For example, within many of the exposed rural coastal areas of the County there is an established and recognisable pattern of development whereby gables are orientated to minimise the impacts from the prevailing wind and farm complexes are often arranged around a courtyard to provide shelter. 3.8.2 Road boundaries and pillars are also a very important placemaking element within the rural landscape. They provide enclosure, use natural materials and techniques which vary throughout the County reflecting local traditions and craftsmanship methods. Within County Cork they are usually constructed of a sod and stone boundary, of an earthen bank faced with stone or mortared and a dry stone wall. They are also of important heritage and habitat value. 3.8.3 As part of the County’s commitment to excellence in design, it is imperative that new buildings in the countryside respond to its local context, not only in building design but in its layout and boundary treatment. Applicants or designers should consult with historic maps and Cork County Council’s Rural Housing Design Guide to respond appropriately to local context for individual houses or as part of any serviced site proposals within rural villages. There will generally be a presumption against the removal of historic boundaries because of their placemaking, heritage and habitat value unless required for road safety reasons. County Development Plan Objective PL 3-5: Rural Placemaking The Plan acknowledges that there are distinct and regional patterns of development within the rural villages and rural areas of County Cork and these make a positive contribution to the County’s settlement network and rural landscape. New buildings should respond to the historic placemaking patterns and built form prevalent in the area. GO TO CONTENTS

10. Page 80

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    80 3.9 Ensuring Quality in Design 3.9.1 In the life of this plan, it is likely that most settlements from our larger towns to our smaller villages will experience a level of change through opportunities to create new buildings and spaces as our population increases and our economy grows. Demands on our Towns and Villages have increased with more housing construction activity to meet the shortage of housing supply as well as a revitalisation of social and economic activity due in part to recent changes to workplace practices. This aligns with the overarching policies of the National Policy Framework requesting revitalisation of our towns and villages with an emphasis on compact and sustainable forms of development that can offer attractive and liveable places to live and work and that can accommodate diverse and integrated forms of community living. 3.9.2 This requires good quality designs carried out by properly trained built environment professionals who have the appropriate skill sets to analyse, advise, provide guidance, develop and produce designs that are well considered, appropriate and fit for purpose. These designs need to deliver high quality environments that demonstrate and exhibit uniqueness, creativity, support human well-being, have good quality detail and robustness that all contribute to the sustainability and success of an area where high quality public realm and placemaking can also be secured and delivered. 3.9.3 In particular, the design of quality housing needs to be responsive to changing community needs where the provision of integrated and different housing typologies can be delivered in a more compact way including options for more centrally located units in a town or village. These factors can contribute to healthier and happier places to live and work which are better connected to facilities by pedestrianisation, cycling and sustainable public transport. 3.9.4 There is now a heightened need that future built developments particularly in the case of residential developments will need to be more urban based with designs of a more compact nature adopting the use of taller buildings located close to existing amenities and public transport. People will be encouraged to live in mixed tenure type developments where multi-generational living together with sustainable community living patterns will become more familiar. The Council encourages ensuring that the right design solution is achieved using an appropriate and suitable site where adequate infrastructure is available to support the development. 3.9.5 Finding an appropriate design solution for a site that proposes a concept that generously sits and integrates well in a harmonious and well-integrated way can often be a challenge for a designer. 3.9.6 New developments, be it, building refurbishments or new builds are expected to bring vitality and new life to a location. Re-use and re-occupation of existing under-utilised buildings provide for social and economic rejuvenation of an area where new people presence bring defensibility and vibrancy to an area where isolation and loneliness for existing residents can be reversed. A properly trained and experienced building / urban designer such as a Registered Architect will have the appropriate training and skill set to carefully assess the site characteristics, the site context, surrounding buildings styles, building patterns, conservation and building height / density considerations, etc, in arriving at a design solution that’s creative, people centred, safe, sustainable and will provide for adequate and comfortable floor spaces with access to good quality natural light, ventilation and private / simi-private out door space with integrated utilities that relates positively to all of its end users. 3.97 What must be avoided are designs that produce poor quality and unsafe environments that lack positive connection and support for human wellbeing and that lack quality in building standards and material execution. 3.9.8 In guiding and encouraging these types of developments from an early stage, from where an initial concept sketch is developed into a set of drawings together with 3 – dimensional models, before the planning process commences, Cork County Council encourages Clients and Developers to appoint Agents and design teams that have the appropriate training, skill sets, qualifications and appropriate experience in order to present the correct design solution to the Council for approval. Whilst it’s acknowledged that some agents have different training backgrounds and experience, in certain cases where a site is sensitive, complicated and may have a difficult planning history, the Council would encourage applicants to engage the services of a Registered RIAI Architect or Registered Conservation Architect together with a range of suitably trained, experienced and accredited multi-disciplinary built environment and environmental professionals who will have specialised skill sets necessary to deliver appropriate and high quality projects. 3.9.9 Reference to National and Local Government guidance and best practice documents such as the Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities, Guidance for Residential Developments in Urban Areas, Design Standards for New Apartments, Urban Development & Building Height Guidelines, RIAI Urban Design Toolkit are other related guidance documents is encouraged. GO TO CONTENTS

Source Cork County Council: Cork County Development Plan 2022–2028 – Volume One: Main Policy Material (2022–2028) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.