Passage housing appeal fails

An elected member of Cork County Council has failed in her attempt to block the development of a large apartment block in Passage West.

Marcia D’Alton, an Independent councillor from the town, had appealed to An Bord Pleanála the decision of Cork Co Council to grant planning permission for the development of 18 apartments at Pembroke Wood in the town.

Ms D’Alton was backed by other local residents, including residents of Pembroke Wood, who submitted 26 objections against the project.

However, the planning appeals authority has upheld the ruling by the local authority and said the three-storey apartment block would, subject to a number of planning conditions, not seriously injure the visual amenities of the area and would be acceptable “in terms of traffic safety and convenience and access and car-parking”.

Ms D’Alton and the residents had complained that there was already a deficiency of car-parking spaces for existing apartments in the estate, while the provision of 30 spaces for the development was inadequate.

The councillor described public transport services for Passage West as “deficient, infrequent, and unreliable”, with only one bus per hour for most of the day to Cork city.

She claimed that residents had to rely on crèche-designated parking in the evenings, while cars were forced to park on both sides of the roads in the estate.

Ms D’Alton said the parking was a threat to pedestrians,while also impeding access for emergency vehicles.

She also complained that the apartment block represented gross over-development of a restricted site, and that this could not be justified in a town like Passage West.

Although questions were raised over whether the developer, Rowan View Developments, owned the site, the company said it had bought the property in September 2016.

As part of the granting of planning permission, Rowan View Developments is required to pay €32,285 to the council for public infrastructure, as well as €36,800 towards recreational facilities.

The building firm had originally submitted plans for 24 apartments, but revised down the scale of the development, following concerns raised by the council. It also abandoned plans for commercial units on the ground floor, as the company claimed they were no longer viable.

These units were contained in the original design for Pembroke Wood.