Residents to fight proposed 17-storey apartment block which contravenes Cork Development Plan

Residents from a community on the southside of Cork city are to meet with local councillors tomorrow night to organise opposition to a proposal to build a 17-storey apartment block next to their homes.

The Railway Gardens development will be located close to the Elysian tower facing onto the Rockboro and Gasworks roads. The development includes four and six-storey blocks, with a 17-storey block on its north-west corner. It will stand at almost 60 metres in height if completed as proposed.

The development was initially planned to be 13 storeys in height but was increased after the developers met with An Bord Pleanála, who advised the increase, describing the initial design as "stocky and out of proportion".

Local residents say they are in favour of developing the site in question but that they are concerned about the scale and density of this particular proposal. They have also expressed concerns about the planning process to date, adding that they feel like they have not been consulted.

The plan has been submitted directly to An Bord Pleanála under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme, which enables developers to submit plans for more than 100 units directly to the planning authority, bypassing local council planning departments.

Image from planning application which shows scale of developmnet in relation to the wider Rockboro Road streetscape and residential housing

The development also represents a material contravention of the Cork City Development Plan as the site in question is not zoned for tall buildings.

In a statement, the residents said: “We need to have a debate on how we want to transform our city over the next decade and the quality of housing we want to live in. The appearance of planning notices in our community was the first information we’ve received on the scale and density of the proposed development."

Developers have described the development as "unashamedly pedestrian-focused" and included just five parking spaces in the proposal: three disabled spaces and two for service vehicles. Residents say this is "baffling and unrealistic" and they are fearful that those in the apartments may park on Rockboro Rd and nearby streets.

The residents feel that much more suitable sites for developments of this size exist, and have specifically mentioned the docklands area as an example of such a location: "We don’t understand why a city with such a store of development land needs to shoehorn over 300 future residents into an inappropriate site bounded on two sides by rock cliffs, has no parking for residents or visitors, is adjacent to a petrol station and one of the busiest roads in the city."

“This plan will open the door to the sort of high-rise urban sprawl whose damaging consequences have only been recently, and are still being, remedied in Dublin and in other cities across Europe and beyond.”

Submissions on the Railway Gardens development can be made up until Sept 18 and a decision is expected from An Bord Pleanála in December.

Cllr. Terry Shannon and Micheál Martin TD speaking with Ann Twomey and the local residents of Rockboro Road off the Old Blackrock Road at their protest against a planned apartment on a site at the South Link Road that will tower over houses. Picture Dan Linehan

- Additional reporting by digital desk