Developers seeking to build 420 apartments at Bessborough Estate to sell off 42 to council

Developers seeking to build 420 apartments on parts of the former Bessborough Estate in Cork are to sell off 42 apartments to Cork City Council for social housing with an estimated €10.5 million price tag.

Estuary View Enterprises (EVE) has lodged combined €105 million plans with An Bord Pleanála to construct 420 apartments plus a café and creche on the site in Blackrock in Cork City. The two separate applications have been made under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) fast-track system. EVE is the largest landowner in the Bessborough Estate, with its block totalling just over 40 acres.

As part of EVE’s TheMeadow SHD, the applicant is seeking permission for 280 buy-to-sell apartments in four blocks ranging from six to 10 storeys in height, while the companion TheFarmSHD provides for 140 buy-to-sell apartments in three blocks up to five storeys in height.

Documentation lodged with the scheme shows that the developers have put an estimated cost range of €172,372 to €202,118 on the one-bedroom apartments, an estimated cost range of €287,203 to €298,203 on the two-bedroom apartments and €400,137 on the three-bedroom apartments

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The developer’s proposal to sell 42 apartments comprised of 18 one-bedroom units. 23 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom unit to the council is in compliance with the firm’s Part V social housing obligations.

The developer has cautioned that the estimates do not include development contribution charges or local authority bonds.

Mother and baby home

In the planning statement lodged with the plans, it states that “the applicants recognise the sensitivities” associated with the legacy of the former mother and baby home at Bessborough. The mother and baby home operated from 1922 to 1999.

The statement adds that in advance of submitting the application, the applicant consulted with the Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance (CSSA).

The planning statement says that there is no evidence to suggest that there are any child burials on the lands that are the subject of the application.

The statement says the CSSA considers that there is a children’s burial site to the north and west of the folly on lands in other ownership where the CSSA believes there should be no development.

In relation to the EVE applications, the planning statement says: “The CSSA have confirmed that they have no objection to the principle of the proposed development.”

The HW Planning report adds: “While the issue of the burials at Bessborough remains unresolved, there is now a consensus between the primary stakeholders that any unrecorded burials were likely to have taken place within or adjacent to The Folly.”

HW Planning states that “based on this we consider that the subject lands are similar in profile to all other lands within the former 200- acre Bessborough Estate, the majority of which have been successfully developed”.

The report adds that notwithstanding the consensus over any unrecorded burials “and as part of a precautionary approach, it is recommended that a programme of archaeological supervision/monitoring of all ground works be undertaken by a suitably qualified forensic archaeologist”.

Burial ground

The planning statement says that trace mapping of concern to the CSSA shows that the children’s burial ground would be located 50 metres to the south of the proposed development.

Last year An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for two fast-track plans by MWB Two Ltd for 246 residential units at a site to the south of the proposed development site.

The new development includes a new pedestrian and cycleway bridge connecting the site to the Passage West Greenway to the eastern boundary.

A decision is expected on the twin planning applications in late July.