Montenotte site with permission for two large houses

A RARE grant of planning, given the ridge protection status – that’s the main point to note at this Montenotte, Cork site, with permission in place to built two very large contemporary homes.

Sat, 28 Nov, 2009 - 00:00

Tommy Barker

The 0.38-acre site is by the top of Westboro House, a period home privately owned and run as offices for a financial consultancy firm, Westboro Partnership.

Its directors had sought permission for a scheme of apartments on the lower grounds, but this was turned down by planners, who did grant permission for a pair of semis, higher up, at street level.

According to the grant of planning, the houses allowed will be three-storey, accessed from the Middle Glanmire Road by breaching a high, old, stone wall between St Luke’s Cross and the former Arbutus Hotel. A number of mature trees on the site are protected.

Parking is at roof top/street level, each house has a kitchen/dining room at this level, but then the bulk of the accommodation is down on two lower floors.

House sizes are 4,215 sq ft for one, and 3,728 sq ft for the other, and one is a five-bed, the other a four-bed.

Selling agents are Michael O’Donoghue, of O’Donoghue Clarke, and Catherine McAuliffe, of Savills, who quote an asking price of €400,000 for the site for two houses.

While it may have an appeal for a builder/developer as it stands, others may look to tweak, or alter, the planning for different dwellings, possibly one very large house, or a small number of apartments, now that the principal, at least, of approval for a quite substantial building has been secured.

Design of the three-storey structure is by Andrew Lane Architects, and it includes parking for six cars via shared access, as well as reducing the height of the boundary wall and some realignment of it.

Cork City Council had mooted plans for a public park on part of the heavily wooded grounds surrounding Westboro House, which would be entered off O’Mahony’s Avenue, but, given the council’s current financial status, this may not be acted on in the short- to medium-term.