Green light for residential development on site of disused petrol station in Cork town

CORK County Council has granted conditional planning for the development of 46 residential units, a beauty salon, shop/cafe, and a newsagent on the site of a disused petrol station in Mallow.

The proposed development at Ballydaheen will include three-bed, two-bed, and one-bed units in a mixture of townhouses, maisonettes, and own-door apartments.

The Ballydaheen development will also include car parking spaces, bike stands, bin storage facilities, and landscaping.

A shared community space is also planned.

Mallow-based Fianna Fáil councillor Gearóid Murphy welcomed the approval of the Ballydaheen proposal.

“There is huge demand for housing in North Cork, and one-bed and two-bed units are, unfortunately, in particularly short supply,” he said.

“It is also great to see something being done with the old petrol station site, which has great potential and is located very close to the town centre, right opposite the bridge,” said Mr Murphy, who added that he was looking forward to seeing the site developed.

The planning application was submitted to Cork County Council by Butler O’Neill Total Planning Solutions who were acting on behalf of Boar’s Head Limited.

The proposed development site will be at the corner of Mill St and Ballydaheen Road.

The planning permission was granted for this development with 78 conditions, including a condition that directs the developer to offer the units to individual buyers intending to inhabit the units rather than to corporate bodies.

The permission was granted for 46 residential units, though the original application was for 52 units.

Other conditions state that all of the communal parking areas serving the residential units shall be provided with functional electric vehicle charging points, in the interests of sustainable transport.

No white uPVC windows are permitted, and windows are to be timber-framed or dark-colour aluminium/alu-clad in the interests of “visual amenity, the character of the area, and to preserve the visual amenity and context of the nearby protected structure”.

In the planning document, the applicants have said their proposal was not a “speculative venture” or an effort to sell on the site after increasing its value.

“It is considered that this development will be a positive contribution to the economic, environmental, and social wellbeing to the town of Mallow,” the application stated.

Planning permission was previously granted on the site to Monaghan Road Developments Ltd for a mixed-use retail and office scheme, but this expired.