Council green light to town revamp

CORK County Council has given the green light to a €400 million redevelopment of Ballincollig, the biggest planning permission ever granted by the local authority.

Permission was granted yesterday, a week after the High Court ruled a settlement agreement between the Minister for Defence, Ballincollig Holdings Ltd, which claimed to own interest in the leases, and developers O’Flynn Construction.

The developers, who bought 90-acres of the former Murphy Barracks from the Department of Defence for €41m, plan to build a town centre and adjoining shopping centre in Ballincollig.