Camp Field amongst State-owned Cork sites that could provide up to 900 affordable homes

Land Development Agency has identified another three Cork sites for potential future development 

The Camp Field on Cork's Old Youghal Road is one of three sites newly identified by the Land Development Agency as having  potential for affordable homes. Picture: Larry Cummins

Army lands and local authority lands in Cork city and beyond, with the capacity for up to 900 affordable homes, have been newly identified by the Land Development Agency (LDA) as having potential for housing delivery.

The Camp Field near Collins Barracks on Old Youghal Rd, as well as land on Farranlea Rd owned by the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB), and Cork County Council land at Kilnaglery in Carrigaline, are the latest parcels to be identified by the LDA in its drive to unlock further sites to add to its delivery pipeline. A total of 19 new sites nationwide are included in the agency’s just-published second Report on Relevant Public Land, bringing the total identified since 2023 to 102, with the potential for development of more than 70,000 homes.

LDA chief executive John Coleman said updating the report, first published in 2023, “creates a working guide to state-owned land in cities and towns and advises the Government on its potential use for affordable housing”.

“Crucially, it also classifies the identified land, highlighting the high potential sites that could be developed in the short to medium term,” Mr Coleman said.

The 6.6ha (16.3 acres) Camp Field, owned by the minister for defence, is the biggest of the three new Cork sites identified and could potentially accommodate up to 450 homes at an LDA-estimated cost of up to €143.25m. 

The Camp Field, off Old Youghal Road

It’s currently used for sport and recreation by Collins Barracks and is zoned as such under the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028. The site, between Old Youghal Rd, Sydney Tce, and Goldsmith Ave, is also partially zoned as an Architectural Conservation Area. As rezoning would be required to develop it, the LDA has ranked it as “moderately constrained”.

A shorter-term option is the 2.6ha (6.4a) CETB site on Farranlea Rd that has the appropriate residential zoning and could accommodate up to 210 homes at an estimated cost of €61.55m. The land is adjacent to Farranlea Rd Community Nursing Unit. The LDA site classification is “least constrained”.

The third site added to the LDA list is at Kilnaglery, Carrigaline, which the agency says has the potential for up to 240 homes. Some of the 3ha (7.4a) in question is zoned for residential and is regarded as more likely to yield homes in the short term. The LDA estimates costs of up to €76.85m to develop the land and deliver the homes.

The LDA previously identified a dozen sites in Cork city and suburbs with potential for affordable housing in its 2023 report, including ESB lands in Wilton that have already transferred to the LDA. The agency hopes to be on site by the middle of next year and has plans for 350 homes. In Shanakiel, at the former St Kevin’s Hospital, 267 units are due for completion by the end of this year, while on Horgan’s Quay, building of 302 apartments is well underway in a partnership with BAM/Clarendon Properties.

The LDA is also about to seek planning for 140 affordable homes at Anglesea Terrace in a partnership with Cork City Council.

The transfer of two Marina sites to the LDA, earmarked for up to 1,000 homes, is also in the pipeline. They include the ESB’s former Marina power station landbank on Centre Park Rd (moderately constrained) and a Bord na Móna site on Monahan Rd (least constrained).

Site of the former ESB Marina power station is earmarked for transfer to the LDA

Another part of the former ESB Marina power station site, earmarked for transfer to the LDA

The former Bord na Móna site on Monahan Road was assessed by the LDA as amongst the least constrained for development. It's in the process of being transferred to LDA ownership. Picture: Larry Cummins

Other Cork sites previously identified by the agency include a Cork City Council depot near Victoria Cross with potential for up to 510 homes; the Animal Laboratory on Model Farm Rd with potential for up to 200 homes; Capwell Road Bus Depot which could deliver up to 210 homes; land adjacent to Gas Networks Ireland on Rockboro Rd (potential for up to 310 homes); CIE-owned land on the North Docks currently used for car parking (potential for up to 520 homes); CSO HQ in Lough Mahon Technology Park, with capacity for up to 400 homes; the former Cork Prison and adjoining Collins Barracks Land, which could yield up to 570 homes, and IDA-owned lands in Kilbarry, which could yield up to 2,500 homes. The LDA has also previously identified Tivoli Industrial Estate as having the potential to deliver more than 6,500 homes. Mr Coleman previously told the Irish Examiner they’d be doing well to get on “any part of that site [Tivoli] sometime in the next seven to 10 years”.

Mr Coleman has also said Cork is “on its radar” as its plans a return to market to buy sites outright from private landowners.