Permission for almost 200 homes near Cork City set to be quashed
CGI images of the proposed strategic housing development scheme in Cloghroe, Cork. Planning for the scheme looks set to be quashed followoing a judicial review.
Approved plans for almost 200 new homes on the western fringes of Cork City look set to be quashed following an 11th-hour legal challenge.
Development firm Bmor confirmed on Thursday that it expects the judicial review of last October's decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning for a 196-unit strategic housing development (SHD) in Cloghroe will not be defended by the planning appeals board when it comes before the courts next Monday.
In a statement to the , Bmor said it understands that the board will consent to "an order of Certiorari" in respect of its decision of October 11, 2022.
“As a result of this, and through no fault of Bmor’s, our planning permission will be quashed during a time where there is an urgent need for housing and where judicial reviews are decimating the supply of this housing in Ireland, further exasperating the national housing crisis,” it said.
In a letter to locals, the firm has appealed for the judicial review proceedings to be withdrawn, even at this late stage, and it has offered to hold a community meeting, involving its design team, to outline its proposed solutions to the outstanding issues.
And it has warned that a new planning application could be lodged for up to 300 private homes on the site, and possibly more, because higher densities are permitted on the site following the adoption of the new city development plan last summer.
“We truly believe the compromise solution could be optimal for the local community and work far better than any new higher-density application which we will be obliged to apply for planning for,” it said.
"This would need to be done by latest Friday, July 7.
“We will have no choice but to comply with the increased density required by the Cork City Development Plan if we go for a renewed permission. This could result in a large increase of units on the site.”
Cloghroe Developments Ltd, a company linked to Bmor, lodged an SHD planning application directly with An Bord Pleanála in February 2022 for a mixed-use development on the 7.5-hectare site in Cloghroe, including 117 houses and 79 apartment or duplex units, a 42-child creche, and a retail unit, with access via a new entrance from the R617 which links Cloghroe to Tower.
In its submission, Cork City Council said the development would make a significant contribution to addressing the housing shortage in the city.
Nearby Tower had a baseline (2016) population of 3,274, which is forecast to increase to 4,437 by 2028. Tower is also said to have just over 21 hectares of underutilised land with a total potential yield of 467 units.
In a detailed 110-page report last October, the board’s planning inspector recommended a split decision — to refuse planning for the single-storey retail food store and to grant planning for the rest of the scheme, subject to 26 conditions.
But with the plans now set to be quashed, Bmor said: “As there is now a new ‘large scale development’ process in place, we will also be forced to resubmit planning under these new guidelines, resulting in the project being pushed out an additional nine to 12 months, where people could have been living in these houses in 18-months’ time if the judicial review was withdrawn.”
