A computer render of the planned apartment block in Riverstown, Glanmire submitted under a previous application that was deemed invalid due to a public notice not being fully visible. A new application was lodged and has now been refused.

Glanmire apartment tower blocked by county planners

A CONTROVERSIAL 13-storey apartment tower in Glanmire has been refused planning permission by Cork County Council.

The development at Ballinglanna in Riverstown was planned on a brownfield site and was set to include a restaurant, a gym and leisure centre, two commercial units, and 12 storeys of 66 apartments with parking for 102 vehicles.

Local concerns had centred on the height of the apartment block in a heavily residential area around Brookville, Edenbrook and Glyntown and potentially increased traffic before €6m worth of infrastructure - secured by Cork County Council under the Government’s Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) - is put in place.

The infrastructure updates are set to tie in with a 608-home development in Ballinglanna to be built over the coming years and includes junction upgrades, road improvements, cycle and pedestrian facilities, and a link road from Riverstown to Hazelwood.

Almost 70 valid objections to the development were made with city councillor Ken O’Flynn and county councillor Ger Keohane being particularly vocal in their opposition to the development.

In a letter posted to people who had submitted objections on Friday morning, Cork County Council planners outlined their reasoning for not allowing the development to proceed.

“The proposed development by reason of its excessive height, bulk, scale, massing, detailed design, poor relationship to its context and the town centre and lack of proximity to high frequency/high capacity public transport would constitute an excessive density of development and by reason of its incongruous scale and built form in the context of the surrounding environment would have a significant and detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the immediate and surrounding area.

“The proposed development would, therefore, be contrary to the objectives of the Cork County Council Plan 2014, the Cobh Municipal District Area Plan 2017 and...the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”

The application for the development was submitted by Tom Moynihan.