48 new housing units to be built on Blackrock Road despite local appeals

Permission has been granted for 48 housing units on Blackrock Road following appeals by both local residents and the developer.

An Bord Pleanála has granted permission for two blocks of five and six storeys with 44 apartments — one studio, nine one-bed, 29 two-bed, and five three-bed — and four four-bed houses.

The development had been granted permission by Cork City Council with conditions, including that one story be omitted from one of the blocks, bringing it down to five storeys.

The developer had appealed this, saying it would “significantly undermine the viability of the scheme”. However, the area has a target building height of three to five storeys. This was one of the issues highlighted in 10 appeals by residents, along with the proposed density of the development, estimated to be approximately 95dph (dwellings per hectare) above the maximum limit of 80dph for the area.

The appellants also shared concerns around road safety and said the shortfall in car parking could result in on-street parking causing congestion. The developer pointed out that the council’s roads and traffic departments endorsed the proposal, that the car parking ratio complies with regulations, and “there is no basis to claims that unauthorised parking will arise, and any such issues are a matter for parking regulation/enforcement”.

An Bord Pleanála planning inspector Bernadette Quinn did not consider there was adequate justification for exceeding the upper target building height or density targets, suggesting that the condition of removing one storey would adhere to the regulations in both of these areas. However, the appeals board upheld the developer’s appeal and went against the inspector’s recommendation to omit a floor.

They noted that the northern part of the site is within the City Fringe Corridor area which allows for buildings of five to seven storeys, and that the development was in accordance with the range of 50-250dph in the City-Urban Neighbourhoods of Cork.