Plans for A&E extension at CUH appealed to An Bord Pleanála 

Major extension plans for the emergency department at Cork University Hospital (CUH) have hit a stumbling block after the plans, which were approved by Cork City Council, were appealed to An Bord Pleanála. 

The Health Service Executive – South (HSE) lodged plans with Cork City Council on April 6 this year for permission to build a two-storey extension to the existing emergency department at CUH.

The plans consist of a two-storey extension, and the provision of a new plant room on the roof of the proposed extension. The project would also consist of alterations to the set down car parking area serving the Glandore Centre, installation of a dedicated underground decontamination waste holding tank and other works necessary to facilitate the development.

The plans attracted numerous observations and submissions at the Cork City Council planning stage, from local residents and state bodies such as the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), and Irish Water.

An IAA official submitted that the applicant “should be required to engage with the HSE to undertake a preliminary screening assessment to confirm that the proposed development and any associated cranes that would be utilised during its construction would have no impact on the safety of Helicopter operations in the vicinity of Cork University Hospital.” 

Concerns 

Some local residents submitted to Cork City Council that the proposed extension would impact on their property due to its size and would create more noise. Concerns centred on the safety of the decontamination waste holding tank, and its proximity to residents on the Wilton Road.

“When the existing A&E was opened in 2005, there was extreme noise coming from the plant room. It was discovered that it was coming from the fan in the decontamination room,” wrote the residents. They suggested that the wall facing the houses on the Wilton Road should be sound-proofed. “Having viewed the plans for the extension, I failed to see where the fan vents are going to be situated,” added the residents.

One resident said car parking at CUH “has reached saturation point and no further development should be allowed until this issue is resolved". Other local residents wrote to the Council, saying the visual impact on their property would be “so severe that it will affect the residential amenity of the property, particularly in respect of loss of light, proximity and scale and size". 

Some residents said they already “had experience of the current decontamination room in regards to excessive noise in the direction of our homes due to the nature of where vents were placed during construction".

Other concerns related to the “potential risk of subsidence” to their homes during and after construction. “No assessment of potential risks has taken place to date, and we have already had to endure past works for the construction of the Glandore Centre on site at CUH which led to cracks in our property," one resident stated. 

“We would urge you to consider the location of such works in such close proximity to our homes and ask that an alternative location on the hospital grounds be found for this,” wrote the residents, who asked that the application be rejected and “referred back for an overhaul". 

Cork City Council granted planning permission on May 31, subject to nine conditions.

This decision was appealed, and the appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanála on June 23. A case decision is due by October 26 next.