PERMISSION granted two years ago by Cork County Council for six whiskey warehouses on a rural site near Rosscarbery has been overturned by An Bord Pleanála (ABP).
BY DAVID FORSYTHE AND JACKIE KEOGH
The planning board referenced the ‘substandard rural road network’ in the area, saying the HGVs travelling to and from the warehouses on the narrow local roads would ‘endanger public safety’.
Planning permission was granted in January of 2023 to Skibbereen-based West Cork Distillers to build six whiskey maturation warehouses at the rural site at Tullig near the village of Reenascreena.
The proposed development would have included six warehouses for the maturation of whiskey with a total floor area of 9,180m² and an overall height of 11.45m, as well as a service building, security fencing and boundary works.
West Cork Distillers had originally applied for permission to build 12 warehouses at the site which would have extended to more than 18,000m² in floor area.
Despite the reduction in size of the proposed development, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by local residents Niall Dignan, Sam Dignan, the Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group and Friends of the Irish Environment.
ABP’s order refusing permission said it had taken into account ‘the nature, scale and number of the proposed warehouses’ and the proposed use ‘which is not linked to the immediate area’.
It also took into account ‘the site location in a rural area on unzoned land with limited services. In particular, accessed off a local road network of limited width, as evidenced in the need to provide for six number passing bays on this local road to facilitate the development’.
ABP added: ‘It is considered that the proposal represents an inappropriate form of development that cannot be sustained in this rural area and the HGV trips generated on this substandard rural road network would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard and obstruction of other road users. The proposed development would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.’
Welcoming the decision, Calvin Jones, local resident and spokesperson for the Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group said: ‘More than two years after submitting an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group is delighted that the board has overturned the decision of Cork County Council and refused planning permission for West Cork Distillers’ industrial warehousing complex at Tullig, Leap.
‘The Board’s conclusions vindicate what residents have maintained from the outset – that industrial scale warehousing of this nature is wholly inappropriate in this rural setting, and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.’
Meanwhile, March 10th is the date Cork County Council is expected to give its decision in relation to a separate planning application made by West Cork Distillers.
The initial application, which was submitted in June 2024, was for the retention of some built structures at the company’s base of operations in Skibbereen, as well as an application for the change of use from a visitor centre to a distillery.
In addition, the company is seeking permission for the construction of a new 60 tonne gas tank to replace an existing 30 tonne gas tank; a grain intake building; two 40-foot containers for water treatment system; two new combined heating and power plant; and new workshop building.
Cork County Council had requested further information in respect of the detailed planning application.
The Council wrote to the applicant, stating: ‘It is considered that the information submitted with the application is not sufficient to enable the planning authority to make a decision in this case, for the following reasons:
‘Concerns about impacts on the Skibbereen Flood Relief Scheme (FRS); lack of clarity about public infrastructure capacity; and lack of clarity regarding potential impacts on freshwater and estuarine ecology due to concerns about impacts on the FRS.’
This information was received by Cork County Council on February 11th last, which means the Council is likely to make its decision by March 3rd next, unless it makes a request for further information.
