7.84 Supporting and encouraging a healthy residential population is also a means of counter-acting the increasing draw to online and out-of-centre shopping. If promoted in a managed fashion, above ground floor living in the City Centre can add significant footfall and increase vitality and viability. As outlined in the City Centre section of this Plan (see Chapter 10), comparison shopping will continue to be encouraged at ground floor level on Primary Retail Frontages (St. Patrick’s Street and Opera Lane) with some complimentary uses permitted in exceptional circumstances, where it can be demonstrated that these will enhance the main retail function of these streets. A key part of achieving a sustainable mix of uses lies in taking advantage of areas that would be most appropriate for food and beverage uses that can activate the street in summer, providing outdoor seating and encouraging activity on the street. The most appropriate locations are south-facing façades an corners sites where two sides of a building can be activated to encourage pedestrian flow without blocking the public thoroughfare. Such sites have been identified in the Mapped Objectives. It is important to continue to support a comparison goods function, therefore these uses should support rather than dominate the provision of retail on St. Patrick’s Street. Another attribute of the City Centre is the high number of independently owned shops, an important asset as ‘authentic experiences’, good customer services and variety, which contribute to the attractiveness of the City Centre as a place to visit.
District Centres are the centres located within the City Suburbs (Blackpool, Wilton, Mahon Point and Douglas) and Large Urban Town Centres include Ballincollig Town Centre. There are also 3 planned District Centres to cater for areas of population growth within the City (Ballyvolane and Cork Docklands), or where the range of services merits enhancement to serve its catchment (Hollyhill). It should be noted that the primary function of these centres should be mixed-use in nature, with a range of retail services, community and social facilities to meet the day-to-day needs of the local population and should not be dominated by one particular type of use.
Small Urban Town Centres
7.86 Blarney and Glanmire are Small Urban Town Centres (Level 3 in the Retail Hierarchy). They have a more limited retail role and function than Level 2 District Centres and Large Urban Town Centres. Retail representation in these centres is primarily focused on local convenience and service provision, with a limited comparison offer such as small-scale hardware, retail pharmacies and clothes shops. Given the level of proposed residential growth in Blarney and Glanmire some additional retail development could be directed towards these centres in order to allow them to adequately cater for the needs of their future populations, thereby reinforcing their Small Urban Town status.
District Centres and Large Urban Town Centres
7.85 District Centres and Large Urban Town Centres are at Level 2 in the Retail Hierarchy, performing a range of retail and non-retail service functions including the provision of a range of convenience shopping (for definition see: Glossary of Terms), a range of comparison outlets and local services such as banks, post office, restaurants, public houses, community and cultural facilities. They serve a localised function and provide for the weekly shopping needs of their catchment areas.
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Cork City Draft Development Plan 2022-2028
Volume 1 I Chapter 7
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