Marina Market operators express surprise at planning refusal and plan to 'resolve' issues

THE operators behind Cork’s Marina Market have contended that the reasons planning permission was previously refused are “resolvable” and “ultimately should not prevent what is a key planning gain for Cork city”.

A fresh planning application was recently lodged with Cork City Council by R Properties Cork Limited seeking permission to maintain their use of the former Southern Fruits Distribution Company warehouse as a market/food emporium for a period of five years.

In a planning statement prepared by Cork based planning consultancy Butler O’Neill on behalf of the applicants, it states that R Properties Cork Limited were “surprised to have received a refusal decision”.

The planning statement asserts that outstanding issues could have been resolved by a second request for further clarification or information.

It says that during the pandemic, there was a “general acceptance that market style food and beverage offerings could operate without the benefit of planning permission” but that R Properties Cork Limited “always accepted this situation would have to be regularised in accordance with planning legislation” and took it “upon themselves” to regularise the situation.

TEN POINTS

The planning statement sets out 10 points as to why this new planning application should be approved by Cork City Council.

Among them, it claims that it is “possible to implement measures along Kennedy Quay [and in the area surrounding the site] that address pedestrian/cyclist safety and avoid vehicular conflict”.

Under the new application, all access parameters for the general public along Kennedy Quay have been removed with access facilitated off Marina Walk or Centre Park Rd.

It also outlines a number of proposed measures aimed at addressing health and safety concerns including reducing the floor space for use by the public to less than 5,000sqm at any one time.

“In the Middle Zone, the HSA advised against the granting of planning permission in the context of Major Accident Hazards, if the development was to attract the general public outdoors in numbers in excess of 100 people at any one time.

“To remedy this issue, Marina Market could commit to reducing the public in outdoor areas to less than 100 people at any one time.

“In response to this the applicant has removed all outdoor seating,” the statement continues. It asserts that the market is a “vibrant” addition to a disused area and a “major attraction to the city’s offering to visitors and residents”.

The application also seeks permission for a number of other proposed measures including additional market units, the provision of 44 bicycle parking spaces and the rationalisation of the existing car park required to facilitate truck movements associated with waste collection and fire tender access. A total of 29 additional spaces are proposed.

A previous planning application, described as “largely similar” to the current application, was turned down by the city council last November. The council had sought further information before making a decision on the application but ultimately decided to refuse permission, saying it considered the road infrastructure on Kennedy Quay to be “insufficient for the existing and proposed use” as it would increase traffic volumes.

Planners said they considered that would lead to an “increased risk of pedestrian and vehicular conflict on Kennedy Quay” that would be “likely to endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard and obstruction of road s and be detrimental to road safety”.

They also said the proposed development “falls almost entirely within the Middle Land Use Planning Zone of the neighbouring COMAH establishment Gouldings Chemicals Ltd and as such is located in an area where it is necessary to limit the risk of there being any serious danger to human health or the environment”.

A decision on the latest planning application is expected by July 6.