Plans to build care centre collapse as land sale turns into ‘right mess’

Plans to build a primary care centre on a city-owned landbank at the centre of a drawn-out sale controversy have collapsed.

The HSE has now been forced back to the drawing board to secure the health facility in the Togher suburb on the southside of Cork City.

It follows the halting by Cork City Council earlier this month of its latest attempt to sell a 2.83-acre site in Deanrock, Togher.

The development of the health facility was subject to business partners Kieran Coughlan and Claire Riordan — the duo involved in the development of the Blackrock Hall primary healthcare centre — acquiring the Deanrock site.

Following the council’s scrapping of the land sale, the HSE has confirmed Mr Coughlan has formally indicated he is no longer in a position to deliver the Togher healthcare project.

Cllr John Buttimer (FG) described the debacle as a “right mess”.

“We are now further away than ever from securing a primary care centre in this part of the city,” he said. “The council and the HSE now need to sit down together and identify appropriate locations for such a facility.”

The Deanrock landbank saga has dragged on since the demolition in 2007 of 108 ‘eyesore’ flats, built in the 1970s by the National Building Agency.

It had been hoped that a developer would buy the site and build a primary care centre, as well as provide an element of housing and some retail offering.

After protracted negotiations, Mr Coughlan was finally poised to buy the land for €450,000.

The HSE said a letter of intent had been issued to Mr Coughlan in relation to the provision of a primary care centre, subject to the acquisition of the site.

The letter was extended several times to allow for ongoing negotiations between the developer and council. The final expiry date of the letter of intent was next Tuesday, September 30.

But the scale of Mr Coughlan’s retail proposals proved contentious, sparking several objections. Councillors were also critical about how the entire sale process was handled.

The HSE said it now plans to readvertise the provision of primary care centres in both Togher and Bishopstown — with both facilities to be provided under operational lease arrangements with the private sector.