Plans lodged for KFC and Costa Coffee drive-thru restaurants on Cork's Kinsale Road

One of a number of developments in the area

Planning notice erected for Motor Services Limited who intend to apply for planning permission for two cafe/restaurant units. Picture: Larry Cummins

A planning application has been lodged for the construction of two new drive-thru restaurants located on Cork's Kinsale Road at the junction of Musgrave Park and the new Creamfields housing development.

Fast food chain KFC and coffee operator Costa are the planned occupants of the future restaurants to be located on a sectionof the carpark at the western edge of the Turners Cross Retail Park, formerly Kinsale Road Retail Park, whose current tenants include Woodies, Homestore + More, and DID Electrical.

Owner of the site, the MSL Group (Motor Services Limited) lodged plans in recent days seeking permission for two, single-storey cafe/restaurant units, including drive-thru lanes, canopies, service hatches and associated signage. The development includes the removal of 72 existing car parking spaces.

The same company secured planning permission for a similar development at the site in 2020, but it was not developed, and the permission has since expired. In their applications, Motore Services LTD said the previous planning approval establishes the principle of just an establishment at this location.

They said the new application evolves the previous one to accommodate the specific requirements of the future operators, KFC and Costa Coffee.

The location, facing Kinsale Road, puts the restaurants on one of Cork's busiest junctions.

Work is currently underway across the road on the Creamfields development. Housing agency Respond is working with builder/developer Cairn Homes to deliver 606 apartments at the site following Dairygold’s €25.6m sale of the former CMP Dairies facility to the developer last year. Creamfields will include a 15-story landmark building, creating a new focal point in the city with work continuing at the site over the next three years.

Planning permission was also granted in December for a housing development of the nearby former Vita Cortex site. Galway-based BML Duffy Property Group plans to build 170 new homes distributed across four blocks, the tallest of which reaches nine storeys. `Cork City Council also has plans to build homes on a site adjacent to the Vita Cortex site, with 39 dwellings to be built in five blocks.

A planning decision on the drive-thru restaurants is expected by the end of March.