Council’s coastal committee must have ‘teeth’

A COMMITTEE covering coastal, marine, and flood policy within Cork County Council will need to have ‘teeth’ to be truly effective, a meeting heard this week.

Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) said our coast will be one of the biggest issues in the next five years and that this was ‘falling between two stools’ by not having a strategic policy committee (SPC).

‘It needs to have teeth as it will be a life and death issue with climate change,’ said Cllr Coughlan.

Cllr Seamus McGrath (FF) proposed the establishment of the SPC covering coastal, marine and flood policy, which was seconded by Cllr John Paul O’Shea (FG).

Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) said organisations like the Office of Public Works must also be on this SPC, while Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire) said Cork’s coastline is one of our biggest resources and noted that several places in West Cork are crying out for pontoons.

Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) said the Cork coastline is an asset which hasn’t been explored to its fullest potential and also said the Department of Marine should be on the SPC.

‘The potential here is savage and we should have a necklace of pontoons and the issue of them not being allowed on working piers has to be addressed,’ said Cllr Murphy.

Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) said coastal communities are suffering and pointed out that they don’t even know which slipways the Council owns.

Cllr Noel O’Donovan (FG) agreed with Cllr Coughlan that a SPC must have teeth and more importantly a budget and welcomed the establishment of it, while Cllr Finbarr Harrington (Ind) said they should consider asking our island communities to be on the committee too.

County mayor Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) said he has always maintained that the Council was neglecting the coastline and highlighted the ongoing problem of not having breakwaters at Baltimore Pier.

‘We’ve tried everything to get a breakwater there but because there is a SAC (special area of conservation) there, we can’t touch it. Who are the clowns that decided to make a working harbour an sac?’ he asked.

‘You can’t touch it or take a bucket of sand and this has to be addressed because we are hitting a stone wall.’