Landbank purchase aims to provide permanent home for Ballincollig schools

Gaelscoil an Caisleáin and the Le Chéile secondary school could be moving out of their temporary accommodation if the proposed compulsory purchase order of the 15-acre site is successful.

A classroom in Le Chéile secondary school, which is currently located in Ballincollig's former Cork Film Centre.

Cork City Council has moved to acquire a landbank on the western outskirts of the city to provide a permanent base for two schools which are currently in temporary accommodation.

Documents outlining the extent of the proposed compulsory purchase order (CPO) of the 15-acre site at Lisheens, on the western side of Ballincollig, have been published, marking a “massive milestone” in the long process to secure an education campus and permanent homes for both Gaelscoil an Caisleáin and the Le Chéile secondary school.

Gaelscoil An Chaisleáin opened in 2017 and has been housed in temporary accommodation on the grounds of the town’s rugby club since.

The Le Chéile secondary school opened last September in the town's former Cork Film Centre. It was refused planning last November for “interim accommodation” on a section of car park at nearby Ballincollig GAA club.

The Department of Education has been insisting for some time that it had identified a potential suitable site for the gaelscoil and that discussions were ongoing to secure the site, while it also sought to resolve Le Chéile’s accommodation issues.

It finally confirmed in June that it was examining the potential to house both schools on this 15-acre site at Lisheens, and the lands were included in the draft city development plan, with a zoning designation for educational use, which came into effect earlier this month.

The city council has now published CPO documents to acquire the site, which is comprised mainly of fields and contains one uninhabitable residential dwelling.

The site is immediately west of the Lisheen Woods housing estate, and is bounded on the south by the Ballincollig bypass and on the north by the R608.

There are two schedules to the CPO — one schedule designates the extent of land required for one school, while the second schedule designates the extent of land required for the other.

Anyone with an interest in land that is the subject of a CPO can object. That can lead to an An Bórd Pleanála oral hearing. 

However, it is understood that no objections are expected in this case.

Massive milestone

Fianna Fáil TD Aindreas Moynihan described the publication of the CPO documents as a “massive milestone” in the campaign to secure permanent locations for these two schools.

“I know that CPOs are often associated with forceful purchase but I understand that in this case there is co-operation on behalf of the landowner involved,” he said.

We are finally moving from talking about providing a permanent site for these schools, to deciding where they are going, and putting them down on a real site once the land purchase is completed. 

“There is a good bit of work ahead of us before there will be kids in classrooms, and hopefully the department can fast-track the delivery of these two new schools. 

"I want them to pull out all the stops to get on with this as quickly as possible.”