Planogram

This is from the Irish Times, and outlines some of the reasons that the residents had for objecting.

€200m Cork scheme appealed
Edel Morgan

A plan by the Cork-based O’Flynn Construction company to build a €200 million residential and leisure complex at the historic Dunkathel House at Glanmire in Co Cork has proven controversial with some people in the local area.

The development is currently the subject of an appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

Three parties – Glounthaune Community Association, Mitchel Barry, and Barry and Joan Murphy – have opposed the planning permission granted by Cork County Council for the venture.

O’Flynn Construction, which purchased the 146-acre demesne two years ago for some €24 million, is proposing a 600-unit residential project which also incorporates a high-tech equestrian centre, a horticultural centre, an outdoor exhibition area and car-parking zones.

The residential element would comprise a mix of two and three-storey terraced housing, as well as semi-detached and detached housing.

The proposal is also to restore and conserve Dunkathel House, which was built around 1790, and convert it into a visitor centre, and to establish a riding school, a garden centre, shops and a crèche on the grounds of the estate.

However, Glounthorne Community Association says it has concerns that infrastructure in the area – including the Jack Lynch Tunnel – is insufficient to cope with increased traffic from the development and says it is not confident that the long term future of Dunkathel House is safeguarded.

It says that the local community has been left out of consultations over the development.

“Fifteen conditions of planning permission have been left by Cork County Council to be subsequently agreed with the developer, which has excluded the community,” says the chairman of the association Philip Mullally.

He says that the density of the development shows little respect for the house and its setting.

Mr Mullally also said that he doesn’t believe the proposal to turn the house into a visitor centreis viable.

“Glanmire is a small village with little or no amenities. The bypass freed it of heavy traffic but this development will choke it up again.”

Dunkathel House was previously owned by the Russell family who disposed of the property after failing to secure sufficient support to develop it as a luxury hotel and leisure complex.

A late 18th century neo-classical mansion, it was built on high ground overlooking the Lee estuary by a wealthy Cork merchant, Abraham Morris.

It has a two-storey, nine-bay centre block joined by screen walls with wings extending back to form a courtyard.

The architect is thought to have been Hargreave, a pupil of the Sardinian architect Davis Ducart who was responsible for Lota House and Kilshannig.

It has a finely proportioned interior with Adam chimneypieces and a particularly elegant staircase of Bath stone.

It also contains a unique collection of Victorian watercolours by Beatrice Gubbins, a former owner and resident of the house which is on public display on the first floor.

@corcaighboy wrote:

Given that we are on the subject of Cork Airport, what is the reaction to the new terminal? Last time I passed through, the cladding and glazing were almost complete. It does look good, but this should be a given considering the cost. HOK were the principal architects I believe, and I imagine the interior is well designed and functional. Originally, the plans called for the addition of a new control tower and a taxiway paralell to the runway, but these were ditched (probably not much need for them in any case).
Leaving aside the fact that the airport was built on top of a hill (fog, crosswinds, etc), there is limited room to expand the runways! And a new upgraded CAT III nevigation system would be expensive to implement given the geographic location.
Operationally, my real hope was EasyJet would expand their services and develop a base in Cork, and I am sure that Ryanair had them in mind when going on the Gatwick route. Aer Lingus have drastically improved their service in Cork over the past two years and they certainly cannot be blamed for the collapse of Jet Magic. I think Aer Arann got too complacent and their service standards were slipping in any case. Frequency was their real advantage but since that will soon deteriorate, the train looks like the best option once the hourly service starts off. Interesting times lie ahead.
Finally, an American friend recently flew into Cork, hired a car, and all was going swimmingly till they hit ‘The Magic Roundabout’. He called it the ‘the gates of hell’ but survived to tell the tale. I pity anyone, local or visitor, who has to navigate that. Surely it is the worst road design in Ireland.

Aer Arann may in theory offer more frequent services, but texting me earlier today as I disembarked to say that my return flight this afternoon was delayed by an hour is not the way to win business.

I need dependability, and punctuality: both are attributes that Ryanair have in abundance compared to Aer Arann. Throw in speedier trips, more comfortable modern planes rather then the old Air Liberte cast offs that Aer Arann use, and finally fares that are half the price and frankly for business people it’s a no brainer.

And you can get the aircoach from the Airport to the centre of Dublin (which let’s face it, is a quite small city by European standards) for €4.

@ShaneP wrote:

Personally, I don’t find the whole shopping centre experience that interesting either, they’re either mobbed or dead, with no in between and shops tend to be at the bland end of the spectrum. It’s easy enough to criticise all things suburban as it is at the moment and the idea that Limerick and most other places in Ireland will have little to differentiate themselves from New Jersey or Arizona (the way things are going) is fairly depressing. Hopefully things can change soon.

You’ve seen one shopping centre, you’ve seen a mall…….

@A-ha wrote:

Tell me about it, there are more Dunnes in Cork then there are people in China. Maybe if you posted your message into the Cork:Architecture and Development forum, you might have better luck in getting responses. Nobody really uses this thread anymore. 🙂

Well, I’ve been reading it for some months now, and just decided to post a response to it yesterday. The fact that I had been testing a new store locator software package which connects with a retail accountability management system had nothing to do with it.

Basically if you input all the criteria regarding demographics, competitors, potential competitors, your own existing stores etc., etc, the system will produce an ideal location for you. Right now, Cork is not really coming in very high on the “no competition” side of things.

And with regard to “nobody reads this thread anymore, don’t put yourself down.

😉