Mayfield gaelscoil to appeal after council refuses planning
Councillors voted last month against changing the zoning to facilitate the 16-classroom building for Gaelscoil an Ghoirt Álainn on part of the Tank Field in Mayfield.
The school’s 300 pupils are currently taught in a number of prefabs on part of the Brian Dillons GAA club grounds adjoining the field which accommodates two gaelic games pitches.
A previous similar application by the Department of Education also failed to get the two-thirds majority of councillors’ support needed for the plans in 2007 but An Bord Pleanála sanctioned the project in March 2008.
However, revised plans had to be submitted after it emerged that goalposts that would have been moved to facilitate the building, would have been directly under overhead power wires, creating a health and safety risk.
The new application was submitted to the council in April and, after almost 400 submissions were received from the public, the change to the zoning of the land as sports grounds was put to councillors in a public meeting on July.
However, the proposal was rejected by 15 votes to 13, less support than in 2007 when 15 votes in favour were not enough for the two-thirds majority needed to change the zoning.
In the immediate days after last month’s decision, the department was tightlipped about whether it would appeal. However, an appeal is now due to be lodged before next Tuesday’s deadline.
“The department have instructed their consultant architects to prepare and submit an appeal to An Bord Pleanála,” a department spokesperson told the Irish Examiner.
In its successful appeal of the 2007 planning refusal, the department argued that the project was of strategic importance as it provides for the city’s only multi-denominational gaelscoil and that sports ground zoning has been applied in many different ways to other facilities in Cork.
However, representatives of local residents opposing the plans claim the reduced size of the school site within the 11-acre Tank Field is irrelevant. The entire field is owned by the city council but the remainder would be sold to Brian Dillons club if the school goes ahead, prompting fears that public access could be ended under private ownership.
Opponents of the project also believe that other suitable sites were not given proper consideration, including pitches offered by Mayfield GAA, but the department has said that site was examined.
