Developers appeal Cork City Council decision to refuse planning for student accommodation scheme

THE developers behind proposals for a major student accommodation development on the site of a former convent on Model Farm Rd have appealed Cork City Council’s decision to refuse planning permission.

Last December, Lyonshall Limited lodged a planning application with the council seeking permission for the development of a 450-bed purpose-built student accommodation complex at the site of the former St Joseph’s Convent and on an adjacent section of land to the rear of the Lee Garage.

Demolition

The applicants said the proposed development would include the demolition of the former St Joseph’s Convent and the construction of three apartment blocks ranging in height from two to five storeys.

St Joseph’s was used as a nursing home in recent years, before being put on the market in February 2022, and sold on May 3, 2022, for €2.52m.

Cork City Council last month decided to refuse planning permission, saying it deemed the development as proposed would be “visually overbearing and out of scale and character with the pattern of development in the area”.

The local authority also said that — having regard to the height, massing, and scale of the development and its proximity to adjoining dwelling houses — it considered that the proposed development would “seriously injure the residential amenities of property in the vicinity by reason of visual overbearance and loss of light and overlooking impact, contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Appeal

Lyonshall Limited has now lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála in a bid to see the decision reversed.

The first-party appeal submitted on behalf of Lyonshall said the applicants are “disappointed with the council’s decision to refuse permission for the proposed development given the context of the site, and demand for additional student accommodation in Cork city”.

The appeal contended that Lyonshall and the project design team had “engaged positively” with the planning authority throughout the LRD application process “and made genuine efforts to address all matters raised” in the LRD pre-consultation meeting and subsequent LRD opinion issued in June.

It states a number of grounds for the appeal, including that there is a demand for student accommodation, including studio units, and submits that the proposed development would “not result in a disproportionate proportion of residents being students in this area”.

An Bord Pleanála is due to decide on the case by the end of June.