Apple granted conditional permission for expansion at Cork campus

TECH giant Apple has been granted conditional planning permission for a significant expansion of its existing campus on the northside of the city.

The application, which includes plans to develop a new state-of-the-art building to accommodate 1,300 employees, was lodged with Cork City Council by Apple Operations Europe Limited back in May.

It sought permission for a new campus building built within the existing carpark and connected to existing office buildings via a glass corridor at first floor level.

Apart from office space, the application stated that the proposed development would also include a Commute Hub with bike and e-scooter storage and e-charging points, to make it easier and more attractive for employees to walk, cycle or take other sustainable forms of transport to campus.

Apple had also sought permission for a new car park on land north of David McCarthy Road to replace car parking spaces lost through the construction of the new campus building, which will be linked to the main campus via a pedestrian underpass under David McCarthy Road.

Two new vehicular accesses off David McCarthy Road were proposed.

Cork City Council sought some further information before making a decision on the application, but the proposed development has now been given the green light, subject to 25 conditions.

CONDITIONS

One condition stipulates that, prior to the commencement of development, a Stage 1/2 Road Safety Audit shall be undertaken for any works to public roads and that a Stage 3/4 shall be carried out at the appropriate stage, all the findings of which must be “closed out, signed off and incorporated into the development”. All costs associated with this condition must be borne by the applicant.

Another states that, prior to the commencement of construction works, “the applicant shall agree the details and the extent of all road markings and signage requirements on David McCarthy Road with the Planning Authority”.

The costs of this must also be borne by the applicant.

At the time of submitting the planning application, Apple said the new building would be run on 100% renewable energy, with solar panels built onto all new structures and that the new campus building would host a mix of existing and new employees.

Speaking previously, Cathy Kearney, Apple’s vice president of European operations, said the company was “thrilled” to announce the further expansion plans.

“We’ve called Cork home for more than 40 years and are thrilled to accelerate our investments here as we grow our team and expand our campus,” she said.

“We are proud to be part of the community here, and with this new project, we will continue to create new jobs, support local organisations, and drive innovation on behalf of our customers,” she added.

Commenting when the application was lodged, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the announcement was evidence of Apple’s “strong commitment to Cork”.

“Apple was a trailblazer in technology at the time they established operations in Cork and their presence here gave, and continues to give, confidence to many more global tech companies to locate in Ireland.

“It is most encouraging to see them continue to invest in their Cork site,” he said.