Call for local authorities to unite to save Vernon Mount House

A NEW voluntary group has called on Cork’s local authorities to unite to save an historic house and make it the centrepiece of a massive new super-park.

The Grange Frankfield Partnership said a restored Vernon Mount House at the heart of their proposed new “Southside Park” has the potential to be a major heritage site, and a cultural and tourist attraction for the region. The partnership, which is made up of residents from the greater Douglas area in Cork city, has invited TDs, senators, city and county officials, and local public representatives to a public meeting next week where their plans will be unveiled.

But a joint approach from both the city and county councils is essential, they said. The councils will need to agree on a single agency to develop the ‘Super Park’ in a coordinated and phased manner, and secure funding from central government and philanthropic sources.

The partnership wants the new park to be developed on the slopes of Grange and Frankfield, around the historic Vernon Mount House grounds, and linked by a new pedestrian bridge over the South Ring Road to the former landfill site which has been redeveloped as an amenity park.

A key element of the plan is the protection and conservation of Vernon Mount House, one of the most important Georgian mansions in the State and listed as one of the world’s 100 most endangered historic homes.

It is in a state of dereliction and requires urgent intervention to ensure its survival.

Partnership spokesman Ger Lehane said they will show how the restored house could contribute significantly to the quality, diversity and character of the Southside Park, in addition to maintaining an important link to Cork’s past architectural, social and cultural history.

“As the area in question is under the jurisdiction of both the city and the county councils, we really need to have joint planning and design for the combined open space lands to the north and south of the South Ring Road, so that the formation of the Southside Park is accessible to residents in both the city and the county area.”

Conservationist and philanthropist Richard Wood, a renowned expert on classical Irish houses who played a key role in the restoration of Fota House, has backed the project.He will address the public meeting, detailing the history and heritage of Vernon Mount.

- The public meeting takes place at the Rochestown Park Hotel next Monday, October 17 at 7.30pm.