{"id":147178,"date":"2025-10-27T03:29:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/147178\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T03:29:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:29:12","slug":"corks-coastal-roads-under-increasing-pressure-from-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/147178\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork\u2019s coastal roads &#8216;under increasing pressure&#8217; from climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many of Cork county\u2019s coastal roads \u201care under increasing pressure due to their proximity to dynamic shorelines and the intensifying effects of climate change\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>That is according to a senior Cork County Council official who said that the local authority is taking steps to protect the roads as global warming intensifies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Meanwhile, an extensive report into the impact of coastal erosion in the region is almost complete, which will provide the council with actions to protect vulnerable areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">A second report, by the same team at University College Cork, will be published in 2027 and will look at the likely impacts of higher sea levels, warmer seas, and increasingly violent storms on the region during the next 30 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The county council\u2019s director of roads and transportation P\u00e1draig Barrett made the comments about the vulnerability of coastal roads in a report provided to councillors.<\/p>\n<p>            CLIMATE &amp; SUSTAINABILITY <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/sustainability\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HUB<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Barrett said that council engineers are continuing to assess the condition and vulnerability of coastal roads and this work \u201cwill inform both strategic infrastructure planning and development management processes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Area engineers are getting involved in planning applications to identify locations where proposed developments may pose a risk to road infrastructure, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cWhere appropriate, applicants will be required to submit construction management plans to address potential impacts from construction traffic and site access on sensitive coastal routes,\u201d said Mr Barrett.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">He added that the council is trying to get as much funding as it can from the Department of Transport for climate adaptation and resilience grants along with bridge rehabilitation grants to maintain and strengthen vulnerable coastal infrastructure, including protecting embankments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThe council remains committed to a long-term, strategic approach to coastal protection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThis includes ongoing engagement with national agencies and stakeholders to develop and implement coastal erosion risk management that aligns with both local needs and national policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mr Barrett delivered his report in response to queries from Fianna F\u00e1il councillor Audrey Buckley who wanted to know what action the council is taking to protect vulnerable communities in coastal areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Roads &#8216;crumbling away&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Ms Buckley, who lives in Crosshaven, said she is worried about roads in certain coastal areas crumbling away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">A meeting of the council\u2019s Southern Division also heard concerns about the acceleration of coastal erosion in East Cork.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mayor of County Cork, Independent councillor Mary Linehan Foley said groynes which prevent sand from shifting have rotted away in parts of Youghal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">She said she first highlighted the issue at the town\u2019s Front Strand 12 years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The groynes have worn down to small spikes which have recently injured some beachgoers, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Sand has been blown away from the strand and is ending up on the town\u2019s Mall Beach and Buttimer\u2019s Quay, which never happened before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Ms Linehan Foley and Fianna F\u00e1il councillor Patrick Mulcahy said  <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/munster\/arid-41693306.html\">the council needs to install more groynes and rock armour in vulnerable coastal areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI\u2019m very concerned and worried about what\u2019s happening,\u201d said Ms Linehan Foley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Rock armour<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty said a landowner in the Ballymacoda area was recently refused planning permission to install rock armour to protect his property from sea erosion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Hegarty said he could not understand this, especially as the land is in a strategic location and if it is breached by the sea there is a possibility that the village of Ballymacoda could get flooded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many of Cork county\u2019s coastal roads \u201care under increasing pressure due to their proximity to dynamic shorelines and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[781,442,18,440,19,17,133,1373],"class_list":{"0":"post-147178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-sustainability"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115444014446671909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}