Permission granted for controversial apartment block in Cork city suburb 

Planning permission has been granted for an apartment on the site of the Glenanaar pub in Ballinlough, despite a number of objections and a recommendation from An Bord Pleanála planners to refuse the application.

26 apartments are to be built as part of the development, made up of seven studio units, ten one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom units.

Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy and Fianna Fáil leader were among those who expressed concerns about the development, with a lack of parking and the height of the two four-storey blocks among the reasons given for concern.

The An Bord Pleanála Senior Executive Planners report ‘recommended that permission be refused as the development would be visually incongruous and would result in overdevelopment of the site’.

But the planning body has given permission for the project to go ahead, with a number of conditions attached.

“It is considered that … the proposed development would make a positive contribution to the built character of area, would provide an acceptable housing mix, would not seriously the amenities of other properties in the vicinity, and would be acceptable in terms of traffic and pedestrian safety and convenience,” the board said in its published statement. 

“The proposed development would, therefore, be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”