City planners seek further information on events centre

CORK’S long-awaited events centre is to be further delayed. Yesterday, city planners demanded a significant volume of additional information on the recently-submitted planning application for the development.

In August, BAM submitted amended plans for the €73m project, set for South Main Street. Its operators, Live Nation, are seeking a more dynamic centre, which will cater for a wide range of events to ensure the end product is profitable.

The amended application included a slight increase in height, as well as more than 2,000 sq m of additional office space, for logistical and management support.

City planners have demanded a significant volume of information from the developers, regarding the enlarged centre.

This includes a request for a specific proposed construction timeline, with planners seeking information on the plans for the Counting House area of the development, too.

Concerns were raised about the “extent of dead frontage” and the glass-fronted area on South Main Street, with planners noting that a “less defensive” design would be more appropriate.

The “lack of live uses to South Main Street and the riverfront” is noted as an issue, while the bulk and scale of the building have also been questioned.

Clarifications on the location of entrances, exits, service gates and access points are also sought, as is the nature of animated signage and the noise impact of the new venue.

The developers have been told to “submit full details, in relation to the detailed design and specification of the pedestrian bridges, full details of the intended repair of quay walls, and details to show the access to the river from the quayside.”

Specific information is also being sought in relation to access to the centre, including “local parking facilities, park-and-ride facilities, bus stops, hotels, etc.”

Further archaeological works to minimise the impact on the old city wall are also noted in the document as being important. An application for additional funding from the Government is awaiting a decision. This week, Tánaiste Simon Coveney confirmed that legal advice about State aid was still being assessed by the office of the Attorney General.