Planning application rejected for residential units on grounds of historical house in Cork

A PLANNING application seeking permission to develop nine detached houses within the grounds of Tivoli House has been rejected by Cork City Council.

In January, Dermot Keating Building Contractors Limited lodged the application for the proposed residential units, all of which would have had the option to extend the rear elevation to include additional living space at ground floor level and balcony at first floor level.

Permission was also sought for ancillary development works including landscaping and the construction of footpaths and parking spaces.

In the planning statement, prepared McCutcheon Halley Chartered Planning Consultants on behalf of the applicants, it stated that the proposed residential development sought to “formalise the open space surrounding the existing Tivoli House, providing in-fill development on this underutilised site”.

It stated that the proposed dwellings were to be located to the east and south of the existing Tivoli House, “maximising the efficiency of the under-utilised garden space to provide large, contemporary family homes”.

“The proposed dwellings are all flat-roofed, two storey structures which are set into the site to minimise their impact on inward views from the surrounding area,” the planning statement continued.

The proposed development was to be accessed via a re-configured existing entrance to Tivoli House.

DECISION

In making the decision to turn down the planning application, Cork City Council stated that the applicant “had not demonstrated to the satisfaction of the planning authority that the proposed development would not give rise to unacceptable traffic congestion and consequent traffic hazard in Tivoli Estate due to the deficient capacity of the local road network which is inadequate to cater for the additional traffic including general and construction traffic movements likely to be generated by the proposed development”.

Council planners also reasoned that, having regard to the location of the proposed development on lands designated ‘Area of High Landscape Value’ (AHLV) in the existing development plan, and to the scale and design of the proposed development in the Montenotte/Tivoli Ridge, “it is considered that the proposed development would result in an unacceptable and negative visual impact on the intrinsic character of the designated AHLV and its important landscape assets and features and would cause undue visual intrusion in the landscape”.

Tivoli House was built in the early 1960s and replaced a Palladian manor, which had its origins in the mid-1700s.

The original 18th century house was built for a merchant family, and once lived in by James Morrison, a previous Lord Mayor of Cork.