A PLANNING application proposing to build dozens of apartments at the former Hammond Lane premises at Spring Lane in Blackpool has been refused by Cork City Council.

In January, applicants Gerard and Teresa O’Sullivan lodged plans for the residential development at the metal company’s former site on the northside of the city.

The site has been vacant for a number of years and, according to a planning statement submitted with the application, was previously used as a scrap metal yard and historically as a tannery.

The applicants proposed the demolition of four existing industrial buildings and one two-storey office building as well as the removal of a weighbridge and the construction of 62 apartments in three buildings.

Two of the proposed apartment blocks were to be three-storeys in height, with one four storey building proposed.

The plans included a mix of one, two and three-bed units with the scheme also set to include a new pedestrian crossing, footpaths, road markings, traffic calming measures, 16 car parking spaces, bicycle parking spaces and a redesign of the junction at Spring Lane and Dublin Hill.

The planning statement contended that the subject site is “accessible to a range of services, education, employment and amenities in the immediate area” and would “afford a good standard of residential amenity to future residents”.

It also stated that the layout of the proposed development was “informed by its configuration and location taking into consideration the need to protect the residential amenities of the adjacent properties on Spring Lane and in the context of the Clúid Housing development to the south”, together with matters discussed during pre-application consultations with the local authority.

SUBMISSIONS

However, a number of submissions and objections were made in relation to the application.

One local resident said they believed the proposed development to be “totally at odds with the character and existing structures in Spring Lane” and that, if it were to go ahead, single storey cottages would be “dwarfed” by the apartment blocks.

Traffic issues were also among the concerns raised.

One person said they feared the development would bring “unprecedented traffic to the area”.

“The footpaths on Spring Lane are already in disrepair from vehicles mounting them and the parking in Spring Lane shall only get worse with the addition of more apartment blocks and insufficient parking to accommodate these new buildings,” they continued.

Cork City Council made the decision this week to refuse planning permission.

The council said it deemed that, having regard to the pattern and character of development in the area and the “restricted nature of the site”, the proposed development by reason of its height, design, prominent location and contextual relationship to adjoining residential properties on Spring Lane would “seriously injure the visual amenities of the area”.

The local authority said the plans failed to provide adequate amenity for future residents.

It described the proposed development as “excessive” in scale and said the proximity of development to existing residential properties – in particular building one and three – would result in a “reduced level of privacy and would seriously injure existing residential amenity”.

Also among the council’s reasons for refusing planning were flood concerns.

“Having regard to the location of the site adjoining the Glen River, in an area prone to surface water flooding and noting the Blackpool Flood Relief Scheme, which proposes works on the subject site, the applicant has not demonstrated to the satisfaction of the planning authority that the proposed development will not give rise to a heightened risk of flooding,” the council said.

The council concluded that the development would be “premature” pending the outcome of the Blackpool Flood Relief Scheme.

For these reasons and others, the council said the development would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.