KFC and Costa drive-thru plans ruled out by Cork City Council planners

Cork City Council planners have ruled out the drive-thru elements of two planned cafe/restaurants on the city’s Kinsale Rd.

A planning application was lodged in February for the construction of two drive-thrus located at the junction of Musgrave Park and the new Creamfields housing development.

Fast food chain KFC and coffee operator Costa are the planned occupants of the future restaurants to be located on a section of the carpark at the western edge of the Turners Cross Retail Park, formerly Kinsale Road Retail Park, whose current tenants include Woodies, Homestore + More, and DID Electrical.

Owner of the site, the MSL Group (Motor Services Limited) lodged plans for the development. The same company secured permission for a similar development at the site in 2020, but it was not developed, and the permission has since expired.

In its applications, Motor Services Ltd said the previous planning approval establishes the principle of just an establishment at this location.

However, City Hall planners issued a request for further information and said the inclusion of the drive-thru element to each unit contravene the City Development Plan.

“While a refusal on this basis alone has been considered, the applicant is to be afforded an opportunity to revise the proposed scheme, omitting the drive-through elements,” the planners stated.

Work is currently under way across the road on the Creamfields development. Housing agency Respond is working with builder/developer Cairn Homes to deliver 606 apartments at the site following Dairygold’s €25.6m sale of the former CMP Dairies facility to the developer last year.

Creamfields will include a 15-storey landmark building, creating a new focal point in the city with work continuing at the site over the next three years.

Planning permission was also granted in December for a housing development of the nearby former Vita Cortex site. Galway-based BML Duffy Property Group plans to build 170 new homes distributed across four blocks. Cork City Council also has plans to build homes on a site adjacent to the Vita Cortex site, with 39 dwellings to be built in five blocks.