Cork developments

It's called a material contravention. The report they did on it is here. It isn't as simple as An Bord Pleanala just completely ignoring the Development Plan

Here is what the 2015 development plan (now outdated as the new one was put into place the other day, but relevant for this planning) says about tall buildings:

“Tall buildings can play a visual role as landmark buildings and can make a positive contribution to the skyline of a city. Due to the visual prominence and strategic significance of tall buildings their design must be of a high standard. There are large areas of the city where tall buildings are unsuitable given the potential conflicts with the character, grain, and the amenity enjoyed by users of adjacent sites. In particular, high buildings should be avoided in the historic areas of the city. The City Council has identified Docklands and South Mahon as areas with the potential to accommodate high buildings. Maps 2, & 7 in Volume 2 specify those locations. All other areas of the city are not considered appropriate for tall buildings. Such development will be resisted in areas of special and/or significant character in the city i.e.:

• The City Centre (within the 1869 boundary);

• The North and South River Lee Channels (west of Docklands);

• Architectural Conservation Areas;

• Other historic areas of the city of architectural and historic character (including the old city approaches and the villages enveloped by city expansion);

• The suburban areas of the city (apart from locations specified in the Plan);

• Areas of significant landscape value (including Landscape Preservation Areas and Areas of High Landscape Value)”. [emphasis added]"

TII have appealed planning permission for the hotel/office development in Jacob's Island citing the impact on safety of the N40

Camden Place alterations (removal of rooftop restaurant + addition of long stay suites) given OK by planners

You can take foreign out of that sentence and then it strikes just as true.

Jacobs Island one is a bit odd is it? You can't build there because our ring road can't handle the extra traffic? I've seen objections like that for smaller roads but that's probably the best served location for cars in the city.

"The foreign students with wealthy mommies and daddies that UCC want to attract to the detriment of students from poorer backgrounds they pretend to care about."

This is the model all the third level institutes are going with. Irish students can go to the back of the queue or go to sunny Glasgow. It explains the rush to build (too expensive for Irish) student accommodation blocks all over the place. In the summer they can be leased out for summer rentals to a totally different market maximising yield or off loaded in block to the refugee agency. Another bonus is a huge pool of intl students added to the labour pool to do the jobs "irish dont want to do...bla bla" suppressing labour costs. Properly trained ....and most importantly paid (with pensions contributions) .. barmen, retail staff etc are so 1970s.

A win win win

Unfortunately, it looks like Marino Point is still stuck in planning after all

Absolute nonsense. Anyway I'd be sceptical of this actually going ahead. In the current economic environment and with a lot of clouds on the horizon it's hard to see someone plouging €100m into a retail outlet centre in Carrigtwohill.

Still work going on at the prism site mobile crane there during the week.

Works starting on Camden Place

North Main St coming along

Any idea when the new appartment developments in Carrigtwohill will open? I'm most interest in the new path from the Carrigtwohill train station!

Clarendon gets the go ahead for Queens Old Castle redevelopment :

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40992794.html

Interesting article by Michael McDowell in yesterday's IT, written about the failure of planning in Dublin, but IMO could equally relate to Cork. some quotes on inner City living:

I must say when I see the glass box clamped on top of the beautiful facade of the Queens Old Castle combined with the other glass boxes springing up around the city, I have to agree with him!

At least we're consistent in our views beer😁.

McDowell, while I wouldn't be his biggest fan, sometimes hits the nail on the head particularly in relation to planning and design. I think that the problem which he identifies above, is not that any one style is bad and another is good, it is the predominance of a generic nature of the "fetish of function dictating form" architecture that allows for little variety, or at best variety within a particular form that is taking away from the attractiveness of our cities to live in or to visit!

Calling a basic and accepted school of thought in architecture that's about 100 years old a, "fetish of function dictating form", is just ridiculous, too.



Oh, I'm not against ornamentation or aesthetics, at all.

I'm just not a big fan of architecture apeing old and ancient styles. I am, however, a big fan of retaining old buildings where possible.

When it comes to planning and architecture, while it seems we have very different tastes, I think there's a lot we can agree on.

Good to see a 5 min frequency planned between Glounthaune and the city! I hope its electrified.

https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-rail-an-bord-pleanala-application-cork-rail-network-upgrade-5909582-Nov2022/

I'm guessing, but probably the west end of North Esk?

New student flats have appeared on Popes Quay.

I passed by the old Vita Cortex admin unit on the Kinsale Road side of the old complex earlier and there are a crew working there demolishing the old wall and fitting shuttering.

Does anyone know what is the plan with the place?