News just in ……. Ken Mahon is to apply for a Judicial Review in relation to An Bord Pleanala’s decision regarding Bishopscourt Green.
An Bord Pleanála’s decision is final and can only be challenged by judicial review in the High Court.
This process will judge whether the Board followed due process in reaching its decision and will not include an examination of the planning merits.
More to follow.
Residents celebrate as city green saved.
by Eoin English
The planning appeals board has saved a cherished city green from development. Residents were celebrating after An Bord Pleanála upheld a previous decision by Cork City Council to refuse planning permission for developer Ken Mahon’s controversial 44-unit apartment complex on Bishopscourt Green in the city’s western suburbs.
Mr. Mahon had appealed the council’s decision to the planning appeals board.
But in its ruling, the board said that from the time of the construction of the houses around the green in 1966, in accordance with the terms of the original permission, the site of the proposed apartment development “has been continuously used and maintained as a public recreation and amenity space by the residents of this housing estate.”
“Furthermore the board noted that the proposed apartment development would result in the loss of the greater part of this landscaped open area which constitutes an essential community facility for the residents of the nearby dwellings and also, which contributes positively to the visual character of the area,” inspector Tom O’Connor said.
As a result, the board said the proposed development would seriously injure the amenities of properties in the vicinity and the visual amenities of the area and would materially contravene the development plan.
Mr. Mahon was refused planning permission.
It was not clear last night whether Mr. Mahon will seek a judicial review. Local residents, who have been fighting to save the green since Mr. Mahon bought the site, said that they are prepared to fight on if needed.
“We have fought it this far - we’ll go the full distance” Keep Bishopscourt Green spokesman Neasan O’Shea said.
“We always felt we had a very strong case and we are very pleased to see the way the board has ruled on this.”
Senator Jerry Buttimer (FG), who lives nearby, said the decision would preserve the integrity of the community.
“This ruling was not just about this green. It had implications for greens in estates in cities around the country.”
The 1.6 acre green became the focus of a major community campaign in the summer of 2007 when it was put up for sale as part of the sale of a house which stands on its corner.
Residents were shocked to learn that the title of the green was included in the title to the house. The house and green were subsequently sold to Mr. Mahon.
He applied late in 2007 for outline planning permission to build four houses on the site. An unprecedented 95 submissions objecting to the project were received before city planners refused permission.
Mr. Mahon subsequently applied for the 44-unit apartment project which was also shot down by city planners. He appealed that decision to An Bord Pleanála which ruled against him yesterday.
The community’s campaign to save the green prompted city councilors to amend the city development plan around this time last year to protect all open green spaces in the city from development.
Planning an Development Acts 2000 to 2007
Cork City
Planning Register Reference Number 08/33107
An Bord Pleanála Reference Number PL28.230339
Appeal by Ken Mahon, care of Spatial Planning Solutions of Studio 4, Crawford Business Park, Proby’s Quay, Cork against the decision made on the 8th day of July, 2008 by Cork City Council to refuse permission.
Proposed Development:
Construction of 44 number apartments in two number buildings, 22 apartments to each building, varying in height from two to three storey with underground car park and ancillary areas to service same, including gardens, roof gardens, private and public open space, boundary treatments and all other associated site works with connection to all main services all at Bishopscourt Drive, on pary of the lands at Number 1 Park Gate Villas, Bishopstown, Cork.
DECISION
REFUSE permission for the above proposed development based on the reasons and considerations set out below.
MATTERS CONSIDERED
In making its decision, the Board has regard to those matters to which, by virtue of the Planning and Development Acts and Regulations made thereunder, it was required to have regard. Such matters include any submissions and observations received by it in accordance with statutory provisions.
REASONS and CONSIDERATIONS
The Board noted, that from the time of construction of the surrounding houses, in 1966, in accordance with the terms of the original permission (granted under planning authority register reference number 228/65) the site of the proposed development has been continuously used and maintained as a public recreation/amenity space by the residents of this housing estate. Furthermore, the Board noted that the proposed apartment development wold result in the loss of the greater part of this landscaped open area which constitutes an essential community facility for the residents of the nearby dwellings and also, which contributes positively to the visual character of the area. Accordingly, the Board considered that the proposed development would seriously injure the amenities of properties in the vicinity and the visual amenities of the area and would, thereby, materially contavene Policy NHR 11 of the current Development Plan for the area, as amended. The propsed development would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
Tom O’Connor
Member of An Bord Pleanála duly authorised to authenticate the seal of the Board.
Dated this 18th day of December 2008.
The decision of an Bord Pleanála has been deferred until the ninth of January two thousand and nine. This is because of the volume of applications An Bord Pleanála has to deal with.
The appeal by Ken Mahon is now on the Cork City planning site.
The appeal is also listed on the An Bord Pleanála website.
Cork City Council has refused a planning application to develop 44 residential units on a site at Bishopscourt Green.
A total of 161 submissions had been made to the local authority objecting to the proposed development while the lower Bishopscourt Residents Group, Communities for Sustainable Development (CSD) and a number of local politicians had been very vocal in outlining why they believed the development should not go ahead.
Yesterday, Mick Murphy, Spokesperson for CSD welcomed the news that the City Council had refused the application. “I’m delighted that the city planners refused this application. To be honest CSD always thought it would be refused because it was such an outrageous application. I’m very pleased it did not get the go ahead.
Cork Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer also welcomed the news. “I welcome the decision by the council to refuse planning and preserve the integrity of this site. I would appeal to the developer to abandon his plans for this site which is one of the few green spaces in this area,” he said.
Concluding Senator Buttimer added, “I’m sure this case will go onto An Bord Pleanala and I just hope that they see its a ludicrous proposal that will do nothing to benefit the local community.”
In this National Geographic article, the virtues and importance of green spaces in our environment is again emphasised.
The world needs parks. Whether they’re slivers of green in a crowded city or 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers) of designated wilderness, parks nourish the human spirit, help sustain the planet, and reflect the ideals of the societies that protect them. But for some of these preserves, the future is uncertain.
Nothing more true could be said about Bishopscourt Green. Thanks to Ken Mahon’s ambition to destroy this open green space by building forty four apartments, its future is uncertain. We are waiting to see whether he will appeal to An Bord Pleanala.
We hope he might take a leaf out of the book of Paris. A city even the most hardened property developer must admire.
Could this be why the citizens of Paris work so hard to reinvent dead urban space and neglected squares of hardscape as places of vibrancy and green? Consider Parc des Buttes-Chaumont in the city’s crowded 19th arrondissement. Once this patch of land held an old gallows, then a gypsum quarry, then the city dump. Now the big bucolic park of grassy slopes and grottoes is alive with bloom and birdsong and a healthy jumble of people who spill onto its hilly lawns: kickboxers, musicians, university students perusing their notes or memorizing lines for a play, lovers rolling over one another like tumblers, and old men who have settled themselves on the grass to rest.
Parisians in fact will seize just about any spot in their city for park or garden: tiny balcony, abandoned auto plant, bankrupt parking garage, derelict railway, even the giant curved facade of a new museum. They will sacrifice broad boulevards for the sake of bike paths with leafy canopies. They will argue for community gardens over apartments or media centers. They will relinquish a busy city expressway along the Seine for a temporary beach park, and will see in every shabby lot a prospective cathedral of green.
One can only imagine how horrified the Parisians would be at the thought of a developer seeking to build a park on an open space laid out in 1965. The Parisian sentiments should be remembered on this, the most French of days. Our parks and open green spaces must be protected.
The last word goes to the Parisian mayor, Bertrand Delanoë:
A modern city needs areas free from density, noise, and the frenzied urban pace. We must re-create the kinds of spaces that lend themselves to talking, walking, discovering, relaxing.
by Eoin English of the Irish Examiner
A DEVELOPER’S controversial plan to build apartments on a suburban green have been shot down for the second time this year.
Planners in Cork City Council yesterday refused to grant outline planning permission to developer Ken Mahon for his 44-apartment and underground car park scheme on Bishopscourt Green in Bishopstown.
Residents in the estate, who have been fighting for almost a year to save the green from development, welcomed the decision.
But Mr Mahon confirmed last night he is planning to lodge an appeal with An Bord Pleanála.
Mr Mahon acquired the 1.6-acre site — which has been used as a public amenity since the estate was developed in the 1960s — as part of a house sale last year.
Title to the house, which is located on the edge of the site, included title to the green.
Despite the fact that the land was used by local residents as public open space, it remained in private ownership.
Mr Mahon insists that it is zoned residential in colour coded maps in the city development plan.
The developer said he sought access to all files relating to the planning history of the site before deciding to purchase the house and green last year.
He was reportedly told by city officials, at the time, that those files were missing.
In the absence of those files, he proceeded to buy the site and applied to build four houses.
But planners ruled in January that the proposed development site is within an area designated as open space in the original planning application for Bishopscourt estate in 1965.
Mr Mahon said he was shocked to learn the files, he was told had been missing, had been used to argue the council’s case.
The planners also cited the city development plan which states there will be a presumption against development of public open spaces.
In their ruling yesterday, they said the location of the proposed development is within an area designated as open space in a previous planning permission by both the city and county councils at the time of the original estate was built.
They also cited a policy within the Cork City Development Plan which states that there will be a presumption against development of public open spaces.
As a result, they said the proposed development would contravene that policy and would seriously damage the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity.
There were over 160 objections from local residents to the plan. Mr Mahon said he is not surprised at the decision.
“I feel the council has acted unfairly towards me. Have they rezoned my land or haven’t they?” he asked. “Constitutionally, they cannot rezone privately-owned land.”
Mr Mahon said the council has clearly rezoned parcels of land nearby from residential to public open amenity. But he insists that such a process has not happened to the Bishopscourt Green site which he says is still listed as residential in the city development plan. Residents have vowed to fight the appeal.
Last year, we wrote a post informing you how to keep an eye on applications made to an Bord Pleanala. Here it is again.
An Bord Pleanala have made use of RSS technology to show planning appeals as they are lodged.
The RSS feed for Cork City Council will show if and when Ken Mahon appeals the decision by Cork City Council to refuse the outline planning application for 1 Park Gate Villas and Bishopscourt Green. If you make use of RSS feeds, you may wish to add this link to your subscriptions
An Bord Pleanala also provide a page with FAQs about the appeals process.
COMHAIRLE CATHRACH CHORCAI - CORK CITY COUNCIL
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2000
NOTIFICATION OF DECISION TO REFUSE TO GRANT
OUTLINE PERMISSION
UNDER SECTION 34 OF THE ACT OF 2000
Mr. Ken Mahon Reg. No. T.P. 08/33107
C/O CMG Architects Ltd.,
The Atrium,
Blackpool Retail Park,
Black Pool,
Cork
Application Received: 14/05/08
In pursuance of the powers conferred upon them by the above mentioned Act, the Cork City Council have by order dated 8th July 2008 decided to REFUSE to grant OUTLINE PERMISSION for the development of land namely:-
Outline Permission to (a) demolish the existing derelict dwelling, (b) to construct 44 no. apartments in two no. buildings, 22 apartments to each building, varying in height from two to three storey with underground car park and ancillary areas to service same, including gardens, roof gardens, private and public open space, boundary treatments and all other associated site works with connection to all main services all at Bishopscourt Drive on part of the lands at No. 1 Park Gate Villas, at Bishopstown, Cork
for the reasons set out in the Schedule hereto.
Signed on behalf of the Cork city Council.
K. Terry Director,
Planning & Development & City Engineer.
SCHEDULE
Having regard to the location of the proposed development within an area designated as open space in a previous planning permission granted under reference C32428 (Cork City Council reference) / 228/65 (Cork City Council reference), and the provisions of Policy NHR 11 of the Cork City Development Plan which states that there will be a presumption against the development of public open spaces, it is considered that the proposed development would contravene Policy NHR 11 of the Development Plan and would seriously injure the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity. The proposed development would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
