An Bord Pleanála gives green light for 758 homes

An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for 758 homes following separate applications from developers in Cork and Dublin.

Cork developer Michael O’Flynn has received permission for 608 homes in Glanmire, Co Cork while a company connected with private equity group Lone Star has been granted permission for 152 homes in Portmarnock, Co Dublin.

Both schemes were submitted under the State’s strategic housing development (SHD) process. The fast-track planning scheme is in response to the Republic’s housing shortage. Under the scheme, builders apply to An Bord Pleanála directly for permission after consulting the local council. The board then has 16 weeks to decide, and it can approve the plans, modify them or refuse them.

At his Ballinglanna site in Glanmire, Mr O’Flynn intends to develop 496 houses and 112 apartments, while Clear Real Estate Investments, which shares an address and directors with Lone Star, is planning 52 apartments and 98 houses in Portmarnock.

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In Glanmire, the mix of terraced, semi-detached and detached houses range from two, three and four bedrooms in size. The 112 apartments will be built across six blocks ranging from three to five storeys in height.

“The solution to Ireland’s housing crisis lies in large scale developments such as Ballinglanna,” Mr O’Flynn said.

“We have always been committed to delivering quality housing projects and we look forward to bringing this new scheme to the people of Cork as quickly as possible,” he added.

Mr O’Flynn went on to praise the SHD process noting that if this project was to go through the previous channels it would have been caught up in the appeals process.

In addition to the properties planned for the site, O’Flynn Construction intends to build a neighbourhood centre including a creche, retail units, a community building and a school site.

Construction in Glanmire is expected to begin in the summer with the first units going on sale from around February 2019.

Cork County Council

Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey said the decision to grant permission under the Strategic Housing Development scheme was a vindication of the council’s approach.

Mr Lucey said the O’Flynn Construction project, at Ballinglanna in Glanmire, was the first to be granted nationally under the SHD process in conjunction with the Government’s Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) which provides funding for supporting infrastructure.

The Government has committed €5.9 million to Cork County Council under the LIHAF to provide for strategic infrastructure works comprising road improvements and a sustainable transport package to allow the Ballinglanna project to go ahead, he said.

“This positive decision by An Bord Pleanála reinforces the capacity of Cork County Council in guiding large scale complex planning applications through the development management process and in this case, through the Strategic Housing Development process with An Bord Pleanála,” Mr Lucey said.

“It is a clear endorsement of the Council’s management and professional approach to engagement with all necessary stakeholders and state agencies in bringing major developments in the Metropolitan Cork region to fruition,” he added.

Mr Lucey said the decision was particularly welcome in light of the fact that, to date, some developments of a similar nature in other parts of the country have failed to get approval from the planning board through the SHD process.