Plans for more than 500 new homes in Cork city to be revealed next week

A proposal for what could be the largest single housing development in Cork for several years, establishing a new community on Cork’s northside, is set to go before the City Council at its next meeting to get the green light with a view to beginning work before Christmas.

The development on two Council owned sites on the Old Mallow Road consists of 95 mixed tenure homes on the smaller of the two, a site measuring 3.6 hectares, and 430 on the larger site which extends to 8.9 hectares.

Details of the development were presented by Council officials to councillors on Wednesday evening but there was no response from City Hall to a query from The Echo today yesterday. 

In the presentation made on Wednesday to elected members in the City North East and North West wards, the development was described as a ‘crucial step in addressing the housing needs within our community, and we are determined to create a vibrant residential hub for our citizens’.

On the first site, located in Kilnap between the Old Mallow Road and the Old Whitechurch Road, there will be a total of 87 affordable homes with a further eight homes available homes as social housing. These would consist of a combination of one four bed-roomed detached home, 66 three bed semis, six three bed semi-detached corner houses, eight end of terrace three bed houses and six two bed townhouses. The social housing will consist of four one bedroomed ground floor apartments and four three bed duplex housing units.

According to Ken O’Flynn, the Independent Ireland councillor in Cork North East, said the news was welcome, but a ‘long time coming’.

“I can remember being involved over seven years ago in securing €3 million from the government for enabling works, which has now successfully paved the way for this project.” 

Over €3m was secured from the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) and councillors voted in 2019 to put in place necessary infrastructure to enable the further development of the site in preparation for housing construction.

Mr. O’Flynn said that the lessons learned during the housing boom of the early years of the millennium had to be learned so the new development would need to have services such as schools, a playground, shops and other amenities in place.

“Developers must engage with local residents’ associations and sporting clubs. It is essential that we get this development right, and this requires meaningful consultation with the community,” he said.