WEST Cork councillors have backed plans for a new social housing development at Old Barrack Road in Bantry, despite reservations by some local business people because the homes will have no allocated parking spaces.
The matter was discussed at this week’s Council meeting, having taken the issue behind closed doors at a recent West Cork Municipal District meeting.
The issue is a ‘Part 8’ application – a planning application which, in effect, is submitted by the Council to itself.
The plans include the refurbishment and re-use of four existing buildings into 21 residential units, comprising a mix of one or two-bed houses and one and two-bed apartments.
A previous submission made by a group of local Bantry business people to Cork County Council said that while they supported the development, the absence of parking would create significant accessibility, sustainability and economic challenges that must be addressed.
They had also called on the local authority to reduce the density of the development or acquire additional lands to include on-site parking spaces
At this Cork County Council week’s meeting, Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) proposed that the development be adopted and acknowledged that there had been some debate about parking. He said he would be interested to hear from Council officials about long-term plans for parking in the town.
‘It’s difficult to get parking outside of places like this. It’s also a topographically challenging environment,’ said Cllr Murphy.
But he added that it would be ‘quite expensive’ to develop the site and he didn’t believe a private developer would have taken it on.
He also welcomed the fact it would also acccommodate single people seeking homes.
‘We do need to make it clear to those interested that there will be no on-street parking provided,’ he added.
Cllr Caroline Cronin (FG) seconded the proposal and said the demand for housing in Bantry significantly outweighs the need for parking spaces.
Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire) said he thought ‘long and hard’ about this proposal and highlighted at the earliest stage about the lack of any parking.
‘I’ve been contacted by business owners and residents about the parking issue. I think we need a commitment from the chief executive that we will look at somewhere to create parking in Bantry,’ said Cllr Collins. He said that people were already driving through the town because they couldn’t get parking.
Council chief executive Moira Murrell said the Council will consider extra parking ‘as part of an overall plan’ for the town.
