HSE seek planning permission for Owenacurra health centre upgrade

An application for planning permission for a 10-bed mental health rehabilitation residence on the site of the existing Owenacurra facility in Midleton has been lodged this week with Cork County Council, with a decision on whether the proposed development gets the green light due next month.

The health centre, which was earmarked for closure in June 2021, was the focus of a long-running campaign to keep it open and eventually did not close until October 2023 when the floods following Storm Babet caused devastation in the East Cork town.

At that stage, the remaining six patients at the centre, which housed at least 20 patients at its peak capacity, were moved to hotel accommodation and an assessment carried out at the time found the existing facility could not be reinstated.

The news that the application for planning permission had been lodged this week was welcomed by Social Democrats councillor Liam Quaide, who has been involved in the campaign to maintain a health centre presence in Midleton.

“It’s very welcome to see Bernard Gloster’s commitment to a new build Owenacurra Centre translate into a planning application,” said Cllr Quaide, referring to the HSE CEO.

“We have come a very long way from a HSE plan as late as December 2021 to remove all such 24-hour staffed placements from East Cork,” he said.

“This service, combined with two other properties in Midleton, means we will eventually have 16 placements for the region.”

Already the HSE has acquired a three-bedroom building in Lauriston near Midleton town centre and plans are at an advanced stage to acquire a second three-bedroom building, also believed to be in the vicinity of the town centre.

Mr Quaide also pointed out that the single-storey construction that was being planned would be capable of being expanded upwards.

The planning permission application proposes the demolition of the current mental health unit and associated outbuildings and construction of a new single-storey 1,220sq m Mental Health Community Rehabilitation residence.

The application also proposes 17 onsite parking spaces, 10 sheltered bicycle parking spaces, and other associated site and landscaping works. A decision is due to be handed down by Cork County Council on February 22.

In the application, the HSE points out that the existing facility was put in place in the 1980s and therefore it could not reflect on an environment that was “conducive to the modern recovery process”.

The proposed new facility gives attention to the provision of outdoor space, improvement of the privacy and dignity for patients, enhancement of the overall appearance of the unit which included the minimisation of the “institutional style”, the omission of multi-room occupancy with the provision of higher-standard single occupancy rooms, improved communal areas, and a reduction in beds from 32 to 10.

A statement has been sought from Cork Kerry Community Healthcare in relation to the latest development.