Now, along with the usual lunchtime hour available from Monday to Friday, the pool will also be open to members of the public on Saturdays from 1pm – 4pm. This is something that I have campaigned for in City Hall since I was elected and I am glad to see that some progress has now been made.

Almost half a million euro was invested in Douglas pool over the last nine months, by the Fine Gael led Government and the local authority. This makes the facility not only more attractive to our customers, but also makes the pool more energy efficient.

The number of patrons making use of the additional hours will be monitored over the coming weeks and months and demand will determine if this is a permanent extension of hours. Already numbers using the pool during the lunchtime public hour have doubled since the recent refurbishment – which reflects the need for a quality amenity in the area.

Also on pricing – currently rates are: €4 for Adults or €2 for Children/OAP’s/Students  - this is now being incentivised, with a 10% reduction over ten swims i.e. customer would buy a book of ten tokens for the price of nine. This  incentivised pricing structure is a reflection that City Council and LeisureWorld are listening to our customers and trying to facilitate them as much as possible.

The pool is used by clubs and schools from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.

Last October, the Government announced €340,270 grant aid under the Department of Transport, Sport and Tourism’s sport, energy upgrade and disability improvements grants scheme. City Hall also spent a further €100,000 on decoration with new tiles in the shower and changing areas, the installation of external CCTV and other items.

The pool closed while the money was spent on a boiler, roof insulation, new double-glazed windows, its first pool cover, a building management system, a water-saving system for cisterns, and a pool hoist for disabled access.

Great credit is due to the council officials who saw the project through. Since I joined City Council, the biggest complaint I have received about the pool, regarded the poor state of the dressing rooms — now that they have been refurbished, it will add greatly to the wonderful local amenity.

Currently the Gus Healy Pool will be open to various organisations and sporting clubs from 7am to 10pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. The pool is open to the general public from 1pm to 2pm, from Monday to Friday. It is my belief that there is a demand for more public hours, and I will seek to achieve this.

Photo: Cllr Laura McGonigle pictured with Christine Moloney CEO of Leisure World and Stephen Scully of Cork City Council. Copyrighted picture: Eddie O’Hare, The Evening Echo.

Cork City Council submitted a detailed application for grant aid for its three pools at Douglas, Churchfield and Bishopstown. The Minister has just announced the following grant amounts for the City Council pools:-

 Gus Healy Pool, Douglas – €340,270

 Leisureworld, Churchfield – €180,800

 Leisureworld, Bishopstown – €201,930

The €340,270 allocated to the Gus Healy Pool, Douglas to be spent on

• new boiler
• new flat roof
• new windows
• pool cover ( there currently is no pool cover)
• building mgt system
• some water saving system for cisterns etc
• a pool hoist

This is hugely positive news for Douglas pool and while we all agree that it is need of major upgrading, I think that this very significant investment by the Fine Gael led Government certainly shows our commitment to retaining and maintaining a pool in the area. I have also spoken to a number of officials in the Department, who are confident that further funding will be available for the Douglas Pool next year under the Sports Capital Grants scheme.

LeisureWorld, who manage the pool on behalf of City Council, should be congratulated particularly for the inclusion of the pool hoist, which will make the facility much more accessible for people with physical disabilities.

Speakers will include: Sergeant Tony Davis, Crime Prevention Unit, Anglesea Street Garda Station, Sergeant Trevor Laffan, Community Policing, Anglesea Street Garda Station and John O’Mahony, Development Officer, Age Action Cork.

There will also be information on financial issues and the Friendly Call Service.

The Lord Mayor will open the event and the well known Cork comedian Billa Connell will also be in attendance to provide some entertainment.

For further information please contact:

Linda Mc Kernan

Community Development Worker

Cork City Partnership

021 4302310

lmckernan@partnershipcork.ie

I particularly welcome the significant improvement of the cycle lanes on the Douglas Road and the Boreenmanna Road. Both of which are primary routes to the City Centre, which are extremely busy with traffic, both cars and lorries, at almost all times of the day and at the same time has increasing numbers of pedestrians and cyclists.

The lack of cycle lanes is an issue that has been raised with me repeatedly by people living within the City who wish to use more sustainable modes of transport, but felt they were not being facilitated. This investment shows that both Local and National Government are serious about urbanism and promoting healthier and more sustainable transport means.

It is a condition of the funding that these schemes are implemented in 2011, so people can expect that works will begin almost immediately.

The works form part of the  the Jobs Initiative framework, which will fund a number of traffic calming and other measures which will inter alia lead to a safer and more attractive environment for pedestrians and cyclists in the regional cities. There are 34 projects in all and they include road improvement works, pedestrian crossings, and cycle routes.

The projects were chosen for funding as they were considered appropriate for the Jobs Initiative programme and were available for construction in 2011. The National Transport Authority (NTA) will be managing the delivery process and will make the necessary adjustments, including possible scheme substitutions, on an on-going basis to ensure their effective delivery. Attached is the full list of projects.

Keyholders/caretakers are again asked to check their properties for leaks (schools, offices, commercial/industrial buildings, outside yards, vacant houses etc.). Water supplies should be switched off pending completion of any necessary repairs.

City Council crews are working to repair leaks on the mains and customers are advised that this work can give rise to temporary disruption, pressure fluctuations and temporary discolouration

While areas on elevated ground have also experienced disruption today, it is expected that sufficient mains supply will be delivered today to ensure the refilling of storage tanks in houses and other buildings

In order to assist householders with supply difficulties, stand pipes are being set up at the following locations:

• Boreenamanna Road (east of the junction of Wallace Avenue)
• Deerpark
• Commons Road (Blackpool Church)
• Old Youghal Road (By Collins Barracks)
• Old Youghal Road (by Glenamoy Road)

Stand pipes will be operational from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. today (27th December 2010) and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow (28th December 2010).

In order to conserve and maintain supplies night restrictions will be imposed over a small number of areas which have very high leakage levels. These are predominately the higher areas on the northside of the city. Supplies will be restricted from 7 p.m. this evening (27th December 2010) and again tomorrow evening (28th December 2010). Supplies will be restored from 10 a.m. each morning. While it will take a number of hours to restore supplies to some of these areas, all such areas will receive sufficient mains supplies each day to refill storage tanks in houses and other buildings.

Customers experiencing problems can call us on 4966512 (24 hours a day).

Currently all Roads Maintenance crews are undertaking salting and gritting operations on footpaths and roads throughout the city and are responding to reports of ice at specific locations. These operations will continue throughout the day and it is anticipated at this time that there will another full salting run this evening. The City Council has sufficient supplies of salt and grit at present but is dependent on demand.

Additionally, in response to demands, the City Council is making salt/grit available to residents associations from this afternoon. The collection details are as follows:-

Times:

• Friday 2.30pm – 5.00 pm;
• Saturday 10am – 4.00pm;
• Sunday 10am – 4.00pm;

Locations:

• North: Knocknaheeny Avenue off Harbor View Road at ex-Housing Area Office depot.
• South: Roads South Depot at Ravenscourt, Skehard Road

Loading Arrangements:

A limited number of sandbags are available at the depots but people are encouraged to bring their own bags/containers if possible. Bags to be self filled but shovels will be available at the depots. People are reminded to exercise due care during the operation.

Supplies are subject to availability of City Council salt stocks and of course continuing cold weather. Continuation of this arrangement will be reviewed on Monday.

The ban on the right turn on the exit from Well Road onto Douglas Road was introduced in 2003 in order to improve the road safety and traffic flow at the junction. The problem was that there is no room for the storage of right turning traffic, and one car turning right regularly blocked a large number of vehicles turning left to access Douglas Village. The Gardaí at the time fully agreed with the proposal.

As part of the proposal to ban the right turn exit from the Well Road, it was proposed to change the traffic management controls at the junction of Woodview/Well Road in order to allow traffic exit onto the Douglas Road from the Well Road. In order to ensure that Woodview would not become a „rat run‟ for traffic avoiding the traffic signals at the junction of the Well Road/ Douglas Road, it was also proposed to introduce a ban on exiting Woodview onto the Well Road. The net effect of the change of traffic management on Woodview would have been that, while there would be a change in the direction of the tidal traffic flow, the traffic data had indicated that there would be no overall increase in traffic volumes using Woodview.

A survey was carried out of the residents in Woodview, and a large majority voted for no change in the traffic arrangements in Woodview. The proposed new arrangement for Woodview incorporated new traffic signals at the junction of Woodview and Douglas Road, and even if was decided now to introduce the proposed new system, the issue of funding for the works could not be guaranteed .

The options for traffic which formerly turned right from the Well Road onto Douglas Road are as follows:

1. Turn right into Hettyfield and then onto Eglantine Park to traffic signals at the junction with Douglas Road.

2. Turn left at the junction with Douglas Road and then right along the new road at the refurbished Douglas Village Shopping Centre parallel to the South Ring Road. Turn right onto South Douglas Road and then access Douglas Road via any of the link roads such as Belvedere Lawn, Tramore Lawn, Rhodaville Estate/Rathmore Lawn, Rosebank or Cross Douglas Road.

Following a recent meeting of Ward Members, to review the on-going operation of the traffic regime in the area, it was agreed that additional road signage would be provided for traffic coming from the Mahon/Blackrock area to inform them to take the appropriate exit at the Well Road/Skehard Road roundabout, in order to access the city centre via the Boreenmanna Road. This action should then lead to a reduced demand from traffic looking to turn right at the Well Road/Douglas Road junction.

TIDAL FLOOD ALERT FOR CORK CITY

Valid from Thursday 07 / 10 / 2010 to Monday 11 / 10 / 2010.

The natural cycle of High Tides for the following days is predicted for the times given below:

Friday 8th October 2010 at 18.41

Saturday 9th October 2010 at 07.01 and 19.23

A tidal surge & strong south easterly winds are predicted. These factors combined will increase the tide levels over the natural tide levels.

During this period there is a danger of Tidal Flooding in the City. It is possible that flooding may occur in the low lying areas of the City Centre including Sawmill Street, Cotter Street, Stable Lane, Union Quay, Morrisons Quay, Corn Market Street, Frenchs Quay, Wandesford Quay, Oliver Plunkett Street, Lavitts Quay, Kyrls Street & Kyrls Quay.

Householders and businesses should take Precautionary Measures to protect property.

“That Cork City Council would run a pilot scheme, to expore the advantages of making the Marina a traffic free pedestrianised area at weekends, with a view to a more permanent implementation of the scheme.”

At the Roads and Transportation functional committee meeting last week I received the following report on the motion:

“In principle the Traffic Division would be supportive of the proposal to convert the Marina area to a traffic free zone at weekends. However, the route at present serves the various needs of the various rowing clubs located on the Marina, Páirc Uí Chaoimh and also private houses at the eastern end of the Marina. Any proposals to pedestrianise the area for certain periods would have to consider not alone their needs but also those of An Garda Siochána and the needs of the emergency services such as the City Fire Brigade and the Ambulance Services.

To provide a pedestrianised area would require resources to be provided by City Council on an on-going basis to provide the necessary signage, barriers, etc. and until such time as funding is provided, the implementation of a‟ pedestrianisation pilot scheme‟ for The Marina cannot be undertaken.”

I and other councillors  were not happy with this report. It is obvious that all stakeholders who use the Marina would have to be catered for if such a pilot scheme were to proceed and this was the rationale behind my motion, asking that City Council would explore these possibilities. That the scheme was dismissed by the Traffic Division because of a lack of funding, when no breakdown of costs were presented to the meeting was also disappointing.

It was agreed not to approve this report, until further information was available, and it was referred to a meeting of the local councillors in the area for further discussion.

**I would be interested to hear your views on this idea.**