An Bord Pleanála shoots down plan for controversial Cork apartment development  

A decision by Cork City Council to grant permission for a controversial apartment block in Glanmire has been overturned by An Bord Pleanála.

In late 2022, Growdale Ltd submitted a planning application with the city council seeking permission for the development of 40 new apartments at a greenfield site on Knocknahorgan Rd in Sallybrook, Glanmire.

The application proposed a mix of one-, two-, and three-bed units in a single apartment block ranging in height from three to five storeys.

An architectural design statement submitted with the application said that providing “exceptional new homes in a sustainable and commercially viable manner, in a well connected, desirable place to live”, was “the ultimate goal” of the proposed development.

The planning application also sought permission for all ancillary development works including vehicular and pedestrian access, footpaths, and landscaping works. A total of 31 car parking spaces were proposed to be provided, along with 100 bicycle spaces.

Close to 60 submissions and objections were submitted in relation to the plans.

Submissions

Cork City Council requested some further information before making a decision on the application, and ultimately approved the development subject to 45 conditions. 

However, four third-party appeals were subsequently lodged with An Bord Pleanála.

Among the concerns expressed included “inadequate” parking provision and a potential increase in traffic congestion, and that the proposed development would be “totally out of character with the area”.

An Bord Pleanála has now decided to refuse permission for the development.

Overdevelopment

In its reasoning, the board said that the proposed development, by reason of its “excessive height, scale, and massing, as well as its practical net density, would constitute overdevelopment of the site, resulting in an obtrusive and visually incongruous development that would be out of character with the pattern of development in the vicinity”.

Also among the reasons the board cited, it said that having regard to the location of the site and the scale and density of development proposed, “the lack of suitable public transport and pedestrian linkages, and the excessive walking distance to services”, it considered that the proposed development would be “excessively car dependent”.

“Furthermore, the proposed parking provision and the car dependant nature of the development is such that overspill parking on the local road network, in the absence of pedestrian infrastructure, would endanger pedestrian safety by reason of a traffic hazard,” the board said.