Blackrock Road development held up after an appeal

PLANS for a residential development at a prominent site on the Blackrock Road, containing two derelict properties, have been stalled following an appeal.

Last July, Dwellings Developments Blackrock Road Ltd lodged an application with Cork City Council seeking permission to develop 44 apartments and four houses on lands associated with 1 and 2 Ashton Place and Ashton Park.

The site consists of two historic houses that date from the 1840s with associated large rear gardens and an historic access lane with the main development plot to the rear.

No 1 and 2 Ashton Place facing Blackrock Road were added to the city council’s derelict sites register in 2018. The site containing the houses was sold in 2022.

According to a design statement submitted with the planning application, the historic buildings, features, context and location of the site within an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) “influenced the design approach of the scheme from the outset”.

The statement outlined the proposal to reinstate No 1 and 2 Ashton Place as two private dwellings and to develop mews houses at the middle section of the site and two apartment buildings ranging in height from five to six storeys at the rear zone.

Additionally, the application included the provision of a controlled pedestrian crossing on Blackrock Road and an uncontrolled crossing on Ashton Park and other elements including car and bicycle parking.

Cork City Council sought further information before making a decision on the application, which resulted in some changes.

The local authority ultimately green-lit the plan, subject to 35 conditions, including one which stated that level three of the eastern apartment block, containing six apartments, must be omitted.

However, the brakes have been put on the proposed development following an appeal.

“Our main objection relates to the safety of the junction of the Ashton Park road and Blackrock Road,” the appellants state.

“The current proposals do nothing to improve the safety of same.

“The proposal will however increase the level of traffic exiting the Ashton Park road hugely,” they argue.

The appellants also express concern regarding several other points including a belief that the development is “out of scale” in comparison to existing buildings in the area.

An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the case by August 12.