City Hall calls for patience on Patrick St car ban

CITY HALL has urged traders to be patient with the Patrick Street car ban after calls have already been made to scrap the scheme. The City Council has come under fire for its partial ban on private cars on Patrick Street, between the hours of 3pm and 6.30pm each day. The ban was introduced two weeks ago to improve public transport but has already been described as damaging to city traders. Cork Business Association chief executive Lawrence Owens said things are only going to get worse when the Easter holidays end and children return to school. The CBA chief said the City Council should be making it easier for customers to come into the city and highlighted the fact that the Gardaí, who are currently manning the roads surrounding Patrick Street between 3-6pm, will not always be there and questioned what would happen when their presence is removed.

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Cyclists call for patience with city centre car ban

CORK cyclists have welcomed the new traffic restrictions on Patrick Street and have urged concerned traders to give it a chance. Cork Cycling Campaign say they sympathise with the corners of traders and motorists regarding the ban but pointed to the success of the largely pedestrianised Oliver Plunkett Street as a reason for optimism. The changes kicked in just over two weeks ago and restrict access to the city's main shopping street between 3pm and 6.30pm daily. It has been met with vocal concerns from city businesses, who claim that it will deter people from coming into the city centre, in particular in the context of the removal of parking spaces from a number of other areas in the city centre. City Hall has moved to calm fears, pointing to the large volume of available parking in areas such as North Main Street car park. A statement issued by Cork Cycling Campaign said that there is very limited parking on Patrick Street and, therefore, it should make little difference to those coming into the city.

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Developer 'disappointed' at planning refused for hospital

Property developer Owen O’Callaghan has expressed “bitter disappointment” at the refusal by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for an €80 million, 93-bed private hospital on Lancaster Quay on the Western Road in Cork, writes Barry Roche.

The board ruled against the hospital on flooding concerns, even though it recognised the site did not flood last year.

O’Callaghan Properties said “even in the midst of the most cataclysmic weather conditions” in November 2009, the site did not flood and this was recognised by An Bord Pleanála.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Beamish building ‘must be preserved’

PRESERVING the Beamish and Crawford site will pay for itself in tourism, according to the chairman of the National Conservation and Heritage Group.

Damien Cassidy, whose group helped preserve the famous Bewley’s coffee house in Dublin, last night described Beamish as “the heart and soul of Cork city” and said it was incumbent on all city residents to ensure that the heritage of brewery should be preserved for future generations.

Raising the idea that Cork people should do for Beamish as Dubliners did for Bewley’s, he said: “We campaigned for the retention of Bewley’s of Grafton Street by marching up and down the street and Cork people should do the same for Beamish.”

He said despite the fact that the Beamish structure is a preserved one, he had little faith in local authorities with regards to preservation. “What often happens, as far as local authorities are concerned, all that means is that the front wall of a building is preserved and you can do what you like inside.

“That does not mean that the integrity of the building is preserved and that is what is essential with regards to Beamish.

“This building and enterprise is the heart and soul of Cork city and must be preserved. When you think of its history, spanning hundreds of years, and the fact that it faced countless recessions and even depressions in its time while still providing good employment, it should not be let go.

“What Guinness has done in Dublin could be used as a model for what should be done in Cork and it will pay for itself in tourism revenue.”

“What is needed is some people power and the local authority should get behind and support any voluntary group that wants to see the Beamish heritage preserved,” he said.

Irish Examiner

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Smithfield horse fair to get new site

A new location for the monthly horse fair which has been held on the same site in Smithfield, Dublin, for several hundred years is expected to be announced shortly by Dublin City Council.

The council has been seeking to move the fair out of the city for several years for health, safety and management reasons, but has been blocked by an ancient market right of horse traders to hold their sales on the land.

The manger of the central area of the city, Charlie Lowe, said the council had now identified an area to the northwest of the city, understood to be in the vicinity of Ballymun and Finglas, which would be a suitable location for the horse fair. He hoped to make an announcement of an exact site in the near future.

The current Smithfield horse fair is not managed or governed by any particular body, although the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does monitor its activities.

Scores of regular traders attend on the first Sunday of every month to sell horses and sometimes caged birds at Smithfield square, and, according to the council, leave behind large amounts of horse manure and other litter which the council is forced to remove.

The council attempted to close the fair in 2002 after a horse bolted and ran on to the quays, where it crashed into a car occupied by a woman and a child. However, the traders defied the ban and continued to attend.

The council has received legal advice that it would be unsuccessful if it sought a court order to discontinue the fair until an alternative suitable site was available.

"We cannot extinguish the 'market right' at Smithfield under the particular legislation unless we find alternative facilities which are reasonably proximate to those already there. Similarly, there is no scope at this time to close it under health and safety regulations," Mr Lowe said.

The council has had an additional difficulty in negotiating with the traders because "it is not clear to us exactly who runs it", said Mr Lowe. However, he added that once the council had established a new permanent location for the fair, it would be in a position to seek a legally-enforceable injunction that would prevent traders from continuing their activities in Smithfield.

The relocation was essential, said Mr Lowe, because even if the council had charge of the Smithfield event, it had become a completely impractical location for the fair in terms of traffic management, event management and due to a number of health and safety issues.

"At the moment it is complete mayhem. What we intend to do is give it a suitable location on a greenfield site - with appropriate bedding and facilities for the horses - that can be used safely on a permanent basis."

The proposed new site will be put out to public consultation next year, and will require planning permission.

Closer look: history of the fair
Smithfield was laid out as a market area in the mid-17th century and retains that provenance in its Irish name, Margadh na Feirme (the Farm Market).

From 1664 onwards the site was used primarily as a cattle and hay market, but horses were also sold periodically.

Horses were sold on a regular basis in Smithfield from the late 1800s onward, but the horse fair in its current incarnation dates from the early 1960s, when the area, one of the poorest in the city, was in a state of considerable dereliction.

Following the redevelopment of Smithfield in the late 1990s and early this century, Dublin City Council did become involved in the management of the fair, but withdrew in 2004 on health and safety grounds.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Apartments planned for Hatch Hall

A former Jesuit student residence on Hatch Street in Dublin 2 is set to be transformed into a luxury residential development.

Six months after being refused planning permission to turn Hatch Hall into a five-star boutique hotel, Galway property developer Gerry Barrett is set to lodge a planning application to turn the listed building into a 36-unit apartment development.

Barrett acquired the building from the Jesuit community for over €16 million in 2004. It is currently in use as a 80-bedroom hostel for asylum seekers.

The 2,787sq m (30,000sq ft) redbrick building dates from the early 1900s and had been run by the Jesuits for around 90 years. It features attractive gardens, a courtyard and a chapel.

The plans drawn up by Edward Residential Assets, a subsidiary of Barrett's Edward Holdings, will involve the demolition of a two/three-storey building at Hatch Place to make way for a six-storey building - one storey lower than the previous hotel application.

Two additional storeys will be added to a four-storey building on Hatch Lane and 36 car-parking spaces will be provided at basement level.

The scheme, designed by Douglas Wallace Architects, will be firmly pitched at the top end of the market.

The majority of apartments will be two-bedroom units, including four duplexes.

The former chapel will be converted into two apartments, one of which will measure 120sq m (1,290sq ft) and will feature stained glass and an organ loft.

Barrett's previous hotel scheme was given approval by Dublin City Council, but this was overturned on appeal by An Bord Pleanála, which said the proposed hotel would involve altering the protected structure to an "unacceptable" level.

A proposed seven-storey addition to the hall would be "visually obtrusive" the board added.

Barrett, a former school teacher from Galway, started out building shopping centres before moving into building hotels and residential developments in Ireland and the UK.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

U2 hotel pool plan may not wash with council

U2's plan to revamp the Clarence Hotel was saved in the nick of time, when Bono responded to a list of tricky queries from planning officials on the final day of deadline.

The rock supergroup had applied to Dublin City Council to carry out a €150m development of the Clarence, their landmark property in the heart of the capital. But the council's planning department said they had to answer a list of 18 key questions before a deadline date of September 26. They submitted their answers that morning.

U2's biggest challenge was to justify why they should be allowed to demolish four neighbouring listed buildings as part of their idea of making the Clarence, "the most spectacular hotel in Europe", erecting a skycatcher atrium resembling a spaceship on the top which would be visible from all over the city.

Under Section 57 of the Planning and Development Act, authorities will not grant permission for the demolition of a protected structure, save in exceptional circumstances and such a move requires the strongest justification for doing so.

It was a challenge they failed, according to former head of An Taisce, Michael Smith.

Mr Smith said: "Protected structures can only be demolished in really exceptional cases. But in U2's response, they give reasons such as how their type of clientele will want the use of a huge swimming pool and they need to knock buildings to get the pool in. I can't see how that is a justifiable reason.

"If the council grants permission, I believe it will be illegal and I will go all the way to the High Court myself to stop it."

Sources say Bono and The Edge -- who own the hotel along with their property partner Paddy McKillen -- have little hope that their plans will go ahead. According to one: "Bono says he wants to change the mediocrity of Dublin. He says he hardly goes in to the Clarence anymore, because it is has so far made such losses that he finds it too depressing.

"But he knows that the issue with demolishing a protected building will not go away and even if the council grant permission, An Bord Pleanala will reject it at appeal."

Bono wants to transform the 44-bedroom boutique hotel into a nine-storey, 141-bedroom five-star hotel and spa complete with signature restaurant, bar and fresh food market, encompassing the former Dollard printing works and four other Georgian buildings on Wellington Quay.

Objectors to the plan include An Taisce, the heritage trust and the Irish Georgian Society.

Bono and The Edge bought the hotel in 1992. Despite being the choice for international celebrities, it has incurred significant losses.

Irish Independent

Green light for €92m Fermoy housing project

A LARGE housing project, valued at around €92 million, has just been granted for Fermoy, Co Cork.

The project was welcomed yesterday by local mayor Cllr William Hughes who said the north Cork town had become a very attractive place to reside. He said he expected this to be the first of many significant developments in the area.

Cumnor Construction was granted permission by Cork County planning officials for 309 houses at Coolcarron, near Duntaheen, Fermoy.

“The bypass has made a lot of difference. I know many people boycotted it early on, but more and more are now using it. We are just 20 minutes away from Cork and we have increased water and sewerage services in place. We have a great town to live in with great facilities,” said Cllr Hughes.

Meanwhile, Enniskeane’s population is set to grow with the announcement that developer George Eady has been granted permission by Cork County Council to construct 99 houses there. However, there was bad news for other developers yesterday as they had projects rejected by planning officials.

Donal O’Donovan’s plan for a 72-bed nursing home at Coolmucky, Cloughduv, was turned down. The project included 48 two-bedroom retirement apartments, 16 one-bed bedsits, a bowling green and nature reserve.

Meanwhile, developer Coleman O’Sullivan has lodged a significant planning application at Derrymihin West, Castletownbere.

He wants to build a mix of 74 houses consisting of detached, semi-detached and terraced homes.

As part of the project, Mr O’Sullivan wants to build a crèche and create a local amenity walkway.

Irish Examiner

Planning go-ahead for €110m private hospital in Cork

A €110 MILLION state-of-the-art private hospital, expected to create 400 jobs in Cork’s western suburbs, was granted planning permission yesterday.

The development, off the Bandon Road in Bishopstown, will offer 100 beds and be constructed by Sheehan Medical, the group that built the Galway Clinic, Blackrock Clinic and Hermitage Clinic, valued in excess of €100m each.

Sheehan Medical said it would be “one of a set of hospitals throughout Europe designed for the 21st century”.

Cork County Council had originally refused an application for a six-storey building housing three 30-bed wards, 36 consulting suites and four in-patient operating theatres.

However, according to the property consultant on the project, Pat Shine, the council yesterday gave the green light for a scaled- down four-storey version, which will include two 40- bed wards, 28 consulting suites, operating facilities, urgent care facilities and testing facilities.

The Cork Medical Clinic has been designed to a standard that, according to Sheehan Medical, would even surpass the new Galway Clinic, which also offers 100 beds as well as 36 consultant suites.

Mr Shine said: “This development will be a big plus for Cork. The hospital will be top-of-the-range and will be an improvement even on the state-of-the-art Galway clinic.”

He said the developers were examining the conditions that were attached to the permission but added the hospital development should take 18 months to complete.

Meanwhile, a multi-million-euro planning application to transform a large site behind a protected quayside building in the heart of Cork city was shot down by planners yesterday.

A spokesman for the planning department said the joint project proposed by Oyster Developments and undertakers Jerh O’Connor for the site between Camden Quay and Coburg Street was refused owing to the project’s overall scale.

Irish Examiner

€33m event and conference centre boost for city

CORK is finally poised, within two years, to get a €33 million event and conference centre.

Following years of false dawns, an exciting proposal from developers Howard Holdings for a multi-purpose venue — linked to a major hotel located in the heart of the city’s Docklands — has been selected as the favoured of four options pitched to the city council.

In an effort to secure the venue, city manager Joe Gavin recommended in April that the council intervene to drive the project forward.

He secured backing to offer to meet 25% of the cost of providing such a centre, up to a maximum of €12 million.

Mr Gavin invited submissions from the private sector to provide a suitable site, design, build, fund and manage a large-scale event centre.

Four submissions were received from developers, details of which will be outlined in full at a council meeting next Monday night.

But it is understood the proposals came from Medaza, who wanted to build the venue at the Showgrounds; Ascon, who wanted to build on a site at Black Ash; the Hyde Partnership who wanted to build on a site at the Carrigrohane Road; and Howards Holdings who proposed to build the venue on the docklands site which has hosted the Live at the Marquee concert series for the last two years.

In a letter to city councillors yesterday, Mr Gavin said an assessment board examined all the proposals and has recommended the city support the Howard Holdings project.

The proposed multi-million venue will be a three storey glass-fronted building overlooking a public plaza which will open to the River Lee. But key to the proposed centre’s success will be its flexibility.

It has been designed to cater for:

* 6,000-plus performances, including 1,150 seated.

* Seated concerts of up to 4,200.

* Conferences of up to 2,000.

* Gala balls of up to 800 diners.

But the venue could also be configured into smaller modules to host smaller events ranging from 400 to 1,500 capacity.

It will be linked directly to a 200-bedroom hotel with a 1,000-seat banqueting hall. Parking spaces for up to 1,000 cars will be provided.

The facility will be within a 20-minute walk of the city served by a footpath.

Planned public transport infrastructure included in the city’s multi-billion Docklands regeneration strategy will also serve the venue.

The capital cost of construction excluding car parking, ancillary services and the cost of the site, will be €33m.

The city will meet 25% of this which amounts to €8.2m.

Irish Examiner