Cork City Council to unveil plans for hundreds of new homes at site on city's northside

The development will have a mix of social, affordable and private housing on the 22-hectare landbank near Blackpool over the next five years

The spine road built on the Old Mallow Road landbank near Blackpool, Cork, as part of the multi-million infrastructural package to service the site for up to 500 homes. File picture

Long-awaited plans to deliver around 500 new homes on a vast public-owned greenfield site on the northside of Cork City are set to be unveiled next week.

City councillors were briefed this week on the timeline and strategy for the delivery of a mix of social, affordable and private housing on the site near Blackpool that will create a vast new residential community on the 22-hectare landbank over the next five years.

Officials are expected to brief local residents on the details of the phased plan next week.

The largely greenfield site in the townland of Kilnap is flanked to the west by the Old Mallow Road and a section of the Cork to Dublin rail line, and to the east by the Old Whitechurch Road. It has been in city council ownership for several years and the council has, since its purchase, been carrying the debt associated with the purchase price.

In 2019, councillors voted to start extensive site-enabling works to service the lands for housing. 

The enabling works, funded mainly by the government’s Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF), included the provision of water, foul water and surface water drainage services, the construction of a spine or access road with ducting for electricity, gas, phone and other utilities, the burying of overhead power and communications lines, as well as junction and improvement works on the Old Whitechurch Road and the Old Mallow Road.

It also involved substantial work to the Kilbarry 110KB substation alongside it to facilitate the undergrounding of overhead cables. As that work neared substantial completion last year, the council was successful in its application to government for a debt write-down on the site, in the order of €11.5m, under the government’s local authority land legacy debt initiative, as part of wider government efforts to fast-track housing delivery.

City officials were also working simultaneously on the delivery of housing on the site using a four-step process, which included a call to the open market last year seeking expressions of interest from builders and developers for what the council said would be “the creation of a vast new residential community” on the landbank, to include hundreds of new homes, retail, educational, and amenity facilities.

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They began work to determine the mix and balance of house types but confirmed the site would include a huge mix of social and affordable housing units.

Following the open call, an invitation was issued to qualified bidders to enter into dialogue with the council which will ultimately lead to the issuing of tenders in stage three, followed by the final stage — the planning process and construction. The timeline for the final two stages is expected to be outlined next week.

Local Independent Councillor Ken O’Flynn welcomed the latest update on the site but said the housing element must now be managed correctly and must include consultation with local residents. “Local roads, footpaths and public lighting in the area all need to be upgraded,” he said.

“But every development has its challenges. This is a very good news story for increasing housing in the city. I’m very excited about it. It has huge potential,” he said.