EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION
THIRD
MEETING OF THE WORKSHOPS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN
LANDSCAPE CONVENTION
The Irish Experience
Paddle Steamer Entering
by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884)
City Hall, Cork
, Ireland
16 June 2005
Hosted
by a partnership of the Department of Environment, Heritage & Local
Government, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, The Heritage Council, The
South West Regional Authority and Landscape Alliance
Organised with the financial support of the
Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape.
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THEME 3
THE IRISH
EXPERIENCE
"Historically from the prospective of
Councillor
P.J. Sheehan, County Mayor of Cork
"Cork County Council is delighted to be one of the host partners for
this event which is intended for all those involved in the field of landscape
and sustainable spatial development.
It is an
opportune time to visit the southern capitol following the wonderful
regeneration of
Mr. Batt O'
Keeffe T.D. Minister of State, Department of Environment, Heritage &
Local Government.
"With such
a wide representation here from all around
You are all
here with common purpose, a very important one.
The protection, management and planning of European landscapes, and to
foster co-operation on common issues. Because
The implementation
of the European Landscape Convention in Ireland animated by Mr. Terry O'
Regan, Landscape Alliance Ireland
"In
the distant past we may have had reason to fear the landscape - a theme explored
so thoroughly by Simon Schama in ‘Landscape and Memory’. He spoke of
travellers returning from the early and very wooded landscape of
Mr.
Bruce McCormack, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
"Ireland
has a
significant diversity of landscapes and seascapes, many of which are of great
character and of noteworthy quality. Many
landscapes are under pressure as the Irish economy grows at rates which
significantly exceed the European average.
The planning system is the main means through which the undoubted public
interest in landscapes is
articulated"
Mr.
John McAleer, South West Regional Authority
"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you
to the South West Region of Ireland and compliment Terry and his committee on
securing this conference for Cork
.
I am the Director of the South West Regional Authority.
The Regional Authority is the next administrative layer under government
in relation to the planning system.
The southwest region covers the counties of
Mr. Paul Murphy, Cork County
Council
"My name is Paul Murphy. I'm a Senior Planner with Cork County
Council and what I am going to do as briefly as I can is to go through what we
have been doing on landscape and landscape character assessment in Cork County
Council in the last while. I work in the policy section of Cork County Council,
the Planning Policy Unit.
Cork County, it seems you have some of the statistics already. The
population is 324,000 and the area is 7,464 square kilometres. The largest
council in Ireland but I think you had some of this from the Mayor already this
morning so I won't delay with the facts as it were on the size of County
Cork."
Ms.
Ann Bogan, Cork City Council
"Cork
City is located on the estuary of the river Lee at the inner point of a deep
natural harbour. The city centre is in a bowl surrounded by ridges which rise
steeply to the north. To the south of the city, ridges rise to form a southern
boundary at the edge of the city. These natural features, reinforced by a number
of smaller river valleys, form the setting for a city which has developed over
the last millennium."
Mr.
Michale Starrett, The Heritage Council.
"The Heritage Council in many of its activities
has been to the fore in promoting Irish action on the specific and general
measures contained in the European Landscape Convention. These have included a
policy proposal to government in
2002, promotion of awareness of landscape as part of our natural heritage and
working with primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education to secure the
place of landscape in the curriculum. Council’s policy proposal, and its
promotion of landscape characterisation in particular, was seen to have
application in both the urban and rural landscapes. Some progress has of course
been made in terms of changes to the planning acts since 2000 particularly as
they relate to urban and suburban environments.
Local authorities are however having to deal with increasing pressure due
to population growth and economic development. As regards dealing with landscape
issues the tools at their disposal are very blunt and currently less than
effective."
