Cork city apartment block plans refused 

A “visually overbearing” residential development has been refused planning permission by Cork City Council.

Josephine Corbett and Mary Corbett had applied for permission to develop a new apartment building at Carmelite Place, Western Road, Cork.

The proposal was for five storeys over semi-basement level, which would have included 30 apartments.

These were proposed to be divided into three studio apartments, seven one-bed apartments, 16 two-bed apartments, and four three-bed apartments.

There was also a provision for 69 bicycle parking spaces, eleven car parking spaces and shared amenity areas at podium level, and roof terrace.

Access to the development for vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians was proposed from Mardyke Walk.

However, Cork City Council has put the brakes on the proposals for a number of reasons, including the location of the site within Mardyke Architectural Conservation area, as well as the scale, height, and massing of the development “which fails to reference the historical plot size of the site and the character of the urban block and the area.” They also highlighted the lack of own door access to units and the potential for traffic generation due to proposed on-site parking facilities.

The location of the development at end of a cul-de-sac was highlighted as an area of “high pedestrian footfall and cycle use” and the proposed development and parking would result in “excessive traffic generation and unsafe traffic movements along this amenity route”.

Cork City Council’s planning department also labeled the development “visually overbearing” and said if it went ahead it would be an “overdevelopment of the site”.

The lack of private open space, the high number of single aspect units, and the proximity of communal open space to windows in some units were also seen as unacceptable.

According to planners in City Hall, the development, in its current form, would “produce a living environment of low amenity value”.