Council rejects plans to convert student flats opposite Cork train station to normal residential use

It comes as a privately-owned student accommodation village in the city will close to students for the upcoming year and provide accommodation to Ukrainian refugees

In a submission on behalf of Arcadia House Management Company, Keystone Planning Consultancy said that the owners of Arcadia Hall had seen a steady decline in demand for the complex, which contains 48 units, over the years as new student accommodation has become available. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Plans to convert a student accommodation block opposite Cork’s Kent Station to normal residential use have been turned down by the council, after planners at City Hall said most of the apartments would be too small for such a use.

Furthermore, Cork’s acting chief fire officer raised “serious concerns” over the potential for fire in the car park of the building while UCC said that taking away student accommodation and permitting residential use would “set a worrying precedence".