The Cork County Board is consulting with An Bord Pleanála on its plans for 309 residential units on Cork GAA lands .
The move by the county board comes before its formal lodging of fast-track Strategic Housing Development (SHD) plans for the scheme next year.
The notice published by the planning board on Wednesday shows that the planned scheme is to be made up of 197 houses, 112 apartments, a creche and associated works at Old Whitechurch Road, Kilbarry, Cork city.
The planning documentation lodged by the Cork County Board is the start of a nine-week long pre-planning consultation with An Bord Pleanála.
The consultation will involve Cork City Council planners and at the end of the process An Bord Pleanála will provide an opinion on the development on whether the scheme requires further amendment or is an acceptable basis for an SHD application.
It is then open to the Cork County Board to take into account the views expressed by An Bord Pleanála before lodging an application direct to the board under government fast-track planning rules.
If and when the county board secures planning permission for the residential scheme, it would greatly enhance the value of the site for any sale to a developer.
The sale – along with income to be generated from Ed Sheeran’s two Páirc Uí Chaoimh dates in April – is expected to go some way towards addressing the county board’s debt.
The most recent accounts for the county board show that its overall debt for 2020 was €21.65 million, with €11.98 million owed to Croke Park.
The board incurred a deficit of over €3 million in 2020 as Covid-19 impacted on the board’s efforts to generate revenue from Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
A decision is due by An Bord Pleanála on the consultation over the scheme on January 21st next.
Meanwhile, An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission to Belwall Ltd for fast-track plans for a large scale SHD scheme on Wall Road, Donaghmede Dublin 13.
The scheme is made of 413 apartments and in its decision the board has ordered the omission of a small number of apartments.
