Former Beamish & Crawford brewery site on South Main Street, beside the River Lee. Work is ongoing on student apartments but the Event Centre remains stalled.Pic; Larry Cummins

Sole objector to Cork events centre hand-delivered appeal documents just minutes before deadline

AN individual objector hand-delivered an appeal against the proposed events centre in Cork just minutes before the closing time for submissions on the project last week.

The woman, the sole objector, felt so strongly that the “bloated and out-of-place” events centre should not go ahead in its current format, that she travelled to An Bord Pleanála’s offices in Dublin to hand in the objection in person at 5.06pm on November 6 — less than half an hour before the window for submissions closed.

The planning appeals board will now review the submission and is due to make a ruling by March 19, 2020.

Former Beamish & Crawford brewery site on South Main Street, beside the River Lee. Work is ongoing on student apartments but the Event Centre remains stalled. Pic; Larry Cummins Pic; Larry Cummins

However, the individual can withdraw the objection at any time, which would allow the application to proceed.

Cork City Council has released the full objection made by the third party, which cost €220 to submit.

The appeal was made on the grounds of commercial overdevelopment in the historic core of Cork city, which is an area that should be developed primarily for tourism.

The female objector says she is in favour of the development at the former Beamish and Crawford site, but believes the revised designs submitted by developers BAM are not good enough, and the city deserves better.

The submission reads: “We, the people of Cork, want to see our Viking Heritage and we want to showcase our Viking Heritage to the general public at home and for tourism purposes abroad.”

The individual cites the location of the events centre as “ground zero for the city of Cork,” and believes that the history should be “brought to life and given light and space within the events centre”.

She claims that the site is being developed for short-term commercial gain, and not as “a resource for the community, a showcase for history and a Mecca for tourism”.

Going forward the objector has a plan for what should happen at the site.

A computer-generated image of the revised events centre plans submitted by Bam following a request by planners for further information. Pic: G-Net 3D

She wants a Cork Events and Viking Heritage centre to be established, with a replica longboat lit up on the quayside, while the heritage should be linked to the fort walls and St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, among other proposals.

She wishes for the area to be renamed The Medieval Quarter.

Meanwhile, developers BAM have objected to condition 48 of their planning permission, which deals with development contributions.

They claim that any work assessed and incorporated into the General Development Contribution Scheme cannot be subject to a Special Development Contribution.

They say that the contribution requested for the Crosse’s Green pedestrian/cycle bridge, or the Lamley’s Lane approach street cannot be charged due to being part of the City’s development plans for many years.

Should the third-party appellant decide to withdraw her application, the project can proceed, as BAM’s own objection is not expected to halt work starting at the site.