County Mayor's Diary Cllr Joe Carroll

I want to start off this week’s column by talking about affordable housing.

There are two great schemes that have been announced recently. Firstly, there is a wonderful development at Carrigtwohill, the development at Baile Adaim is near a town that offers a host of local services, shops, schools, and sports clubs, with excellent public transport links and ease of access to the major road networks. The new homes at Carrigtwohill will be available to purchase at 12noon on 7 October.

Another opportunity for buyers to get onto the property ladder is available in Macroom. The development at Meadowlands is in an excellent location, within walking distance of Macroom town centre and around 30 minutes’ drive to both Cork city and Killarney.

The homes at Meadowlands are available to purchase as of 30 September. The provision of these houses shows the council’s continuing progress under the Government’s Housing for All national housing plan.

Continuing with housing, I was delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Age Friendly Housing Design Competition, a collaboration between our Architects Department, Planning Department and Cork County Age Friendly Programme, in conjunction with Cork Centre for Architectural Education (UCC and MTU).

This initiative demonstrates that working together with our educational partners, we can help shape future developments by putting Age Friendly design in the minds of student architects before they begin their careers. Competitions like this inspire innovation and ensure that future housing can meet the needs of all generations.

I’m happy to announce that 31 community-led climate action projects have been approved for funding totalling €1,000,265. It is positive to see such a wide selection and range of projects from across all corners of Cork county receiving substantial funding under Strand 1 of the Community Climate Action Programme and it is testament to the strong and beneficial work being undertaken by our many vibrant and active community groups. Climate change is a significant issue for all our communities, and I would like to commend the successful groups on their work at a local level to deliver climate action.

The Anti-Litter Awards for 2024 took place recently and I would like to offer a huge congratulations to all those who took part especially all the winners in each category. We always do our best work in unison with the local communities around Cork and it is important that we recognise the great work that you do. Volunteers attired in high viz jackets and gloves, armed with litter pickers and bags, often active in early morning and late evening, are a regular sight on our roadsides and streets these days.

These tireless individuals devote long hours to keeping our environment clean by picking litter discarded by others. Congratulations to all involved again.