Decision due on planning permission for Cork's Marina Market

Market has been operating without planning permission since it first opened during the pandemic.

Planners on behalf of CPR Properties said that Marina Market had become a 'Cork phenomenon'.

Cork City Council is set to make its decision on whether to grant planning permission for the Marina Market, as the Port of Cork Company again asked that the planning bid is turned down.

The market, which has been operating without planning permission since it first opened during the pandemic, is based at a disused warehouse at Kennedy Quay.

The first planning application by CPR Properties to operate the popular market was turned down by the council which said that the current road infrastructure on Kennedy Quay would be “insufficient” for the existing and proposed volume of traffic generated by the market.

In its fresh planning bid lodged in May, however, CPR said that it believed this refusal was “surprising” and that the issues raised by the council could have been worked through.

Planners on behalf of CPR Properties said that Marina Market had become a “Cork phenomenon” that the “people of the city have taken to their hearts” in the two years of its operation.

It said: “Undoubtedly, Marina Market in Cork City is a vibrant bustling addition to this currently disused area of Cork Docklands.

“Similar to Timeout in Lisbon, it is a major attraction to the city’s offering to visitors and residents.” 

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To address the reasons for the original refusal, the new planning application advised that it would take measures to address pedestrian and cycling safety on Kennedy Quay and clarified its new proposals would remove access to the market to and from Kennedy Quay.

Furthermore, it has committed to reducing the floor space for use by the public to less than 5,000sqm at any one time, and the removal of all outdoor seating.

In a submission to Cork City Council on June 15 on behalf of the Port of Cork Company (POCC), McCutcheon Halley Planning Consultants said that POCC had previously raised concerns with regard to the existing car park for Marina Market and that insufficient capacity at the car park “has resulted in customers of the Marina Market using the quayside as an unauthorised overflow carpark”.

“As outlined in the previous submission, our client remains of the opinion that the issues relating to the overspill and the public’s health and safety are not resolvable by traffic management or mobility management plans while the quays remain operational,” it said.

It added that POCC requests that Cork City Council refuse permission for the development.

Cork City Council originally set a deadline of Thursday, July 6 for its decision, which remains pending.