Houses on Cork's northside to be knocked and replaced after fire

TWO bungalows owned by Cork City Council which were damaged by fire last year are set to be demolished, with replacement housing developed at the site.

The fire, which occurred last April, destroyed a vacant one-bedroom bungalow in Hollyville on the northside of the city that was under renovation by Cork City Council and was near completion. It also caused damage to the adjoining property.

Cork City Council has now confirmed that it intends to demolish these properties and replace them with new units.

“These properties were initially made safe and secured by the city council because of the fire. The city council inspected the properties to consider its options to bring the properties back into use and as a result of this, it was decided that it would not be viable to refurbish the properties.

“The preferred option to be progressed with involves the demolition of the property remains and to replace this with new housing.

“The demolition works are currently being tendered and it is expected that this work will commence in February 2022.

“The replacement of the houses will commence thereafter subject to Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government approval and funding,” the council stated.

Priority

Speaking to The Echo, Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent called for the council to make the demolition of the bungalows and options for their replacement “an urgent priority considering it will be a year in April since the fire”.

“They are an eyesore in a residential area off the very busy Habour View Road and they really should have been demolished and the site cleared by now,” he continued.

Fianna Fáil councillor Tony Fitzgerald, who lives next to the properties, also described the fire-damaged houses as “an eyesore” and said that while he expects it will be some time before construction work will commence to rebuild units at the site, he welcomed that demolition works to remove the fire-damaged properties are to commence shortly.

Following the fire, Gardaí had said investigations were ongoing.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that no arrests have been made in relation to this incident and that there are no updates on the investigation.