Watergrasshill housing proposal set to proceed

AN Bord Pleanála has upheld Cork County Council’s decision to grant permission for a proposed residential development in Watergrasshill following a third-party appeal which was raised in a recent RTÉ Investigates programme.

In August 2022, Vincentia Investments Ltd lodged a planning application with the local authority seeking permission for the development of 74 units comprising of 66 houses and eight apartments at Bishop’s Island, Watergrasshill.

The application also sought permission for the construction of a creche, 150 car-parking spaces, and other site development works.

Cork County Council requested some further information before making a decision on the planning application.

Changes to the overall site layout following the request include the omission of ‘Public Open Space 4’ and an indicative future proposal for two houses on that space.

The local authority then granted conditional planning permission, but a third-party appeal was later lodged with An Bord Pleanála by a body named An Lucht Inbhuanaithe.

The details of the planning application process for the development featured in the RTÉ Investigates programme, The Planning Trap, which aired in early December.

The programme revealed how two individuals are systematically objecting to planning applications and have lodged multiple objections to residential and commercial developments across the country.

However, the development at Watergrasshill can now proceed following An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant permission with conditions.

The board ruled that the development would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

It said that the Cork County Development Plan 2022-2028 envisioned growth at Watergrasshill by up to 149 units during the plan period and therefore the proposed development, subject to compliance with the planning conditions, “would not seriously injure the visual or residential amenities of the area and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety”.

There are 22 conditions attached to An Bord Pleanála’s approval of the development.