Plans for 67 apartments on Bessborough site rejected

A decision is still pending on a separate planning application for 179 residential units on another part of the Bessborough lands.

Lands at Bessborough, Cork. A planning application for 67 apartments on part of this land has been rejected. A separate application for a further 179 units is still pending. Picture: Larry Cummins

One element of a controversial 246-unit housing plan on the former Bessborough mother and baby home estate in Cork has been shot down.

Planners in Cork City Council have refused planning permission for a 67-apartment scheme on a parcel of privately owned land which has also been earmarked for a larger housing project by the same developers, MWB Two Ltd.

Their reasons will not be publicly available until later in the week.

A spokesperson for the developer said: "MWB Two Ltd notes the decision by Cork City Council in relation to its proposed Gateway View development and will take the time to review the Council's decision over the coming days."

The Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance (CSSA), which represents more than 50 families of children who died at Bessborough, welcomed the decision.

"The CSSA is relieved and delighted at the decision and we have had a rare happy morning calling our members to tell them that we've had a victory in relation to the local planning application," a spokesperson said.

"We're all still worried about the An Bord Pleanála application but today's news is heartwarming."

The developer’s separate planning application for 179 residential units is still being considered by An Bord Pleanála under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process. A decision is due on that application next month.

MWB Two Ltd are behind plans for over 200 apartments on a 3.7-acre privately owned parcel of land in the south eastern area of the former Bessborough Estate.

Planning application

The company applied to Cork City Council last November for planning permission for the construction of 67 apartments in an eight-storey apartment building comprising 29 one-bedroom apartments and 38 two-bedroom apartments.

And because of zoning issues, the developers applied separately to An Bord Pleanala under the SHD process for a larger residential development of 179 residential units on an adjoining area.

Part of the SHD site overlaps an area of land identified as a children’s burial ground on history maps.

City planners have now refused permission for the 67-apartment project. The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes found that 923 babies associated with Bessborough died between 1922 and 1998. But the burial sites of the vast majority have not been identified.