TD SEÁN SHERLOCK - “IT’S CLEAR TO ME THAT A BRAKE HAS BEEN PUT ON THIS PROJECT”
THE Labour TD for Cork East Deputy Seán Sherlock has launched a stinging broadside at the outgoing Government, accusing them of deliberately stalling a plan to refurbish the fire damaged section of Mallow’s Patrician Academy.
Deputy Sherlock pulled no punches in his assessment of the ongoing saga, blaming the delay in granting planning permission for the project firmly on the doorstep of Education Minister Joe McHugh and officials at his department.
The long-running saga dates back to July 2016 when a blaze ripped through the upper floors of the ‘new’ extension in the school campus, rendering it unusable and forcing the temporary relocation of students to other sites around the town.
While prefabricated classrooms were subsequently installed on site allowing the students to move back on campus, the delay in sanctioning the refurbishment project at the school caused increasing frustration among the school population and the local community.
Last April the Student Council at the school vented their frustration at the delay in a letter to Minister McHugh, also highlighting the poor condition of the temporary classrooms.
“Not one single block has been laid, illustrating the lack-lustre response from your Department,” read the letter.
“Do you really thinks that is good enough? If your son was a student in our school, do you think these sub-standard conditions are an acceptable environment to learn in? As a student body we feel the Government, and your department in particular, has neglected our school.”
Last September it emerged there was finally some light at the end of the tunnel following the lodging of a planning application with Cork County Council for a major refurbishment plan for he school to replace the damaged building.
It made provision for the construction of a three-story 3,307 m2 extension, to the existing protected structure, incorporating 11 classrooms and other rooms, to replace the fire-damaged two-storey extension.
It also incorporated various other demolition works and the removal of the pre-fabricated classrooms.
The long-awaited development was widely welcomed with Deputy Sherlock saying he hoped the project would move swiftly to the construction stage .
“We have been working hard on this application for some time and I am now glad to see it is going though planning, which I hope will be a seamless process,” said Deputy Sherlock.
“I hope the council will not come back for any further information that will delay the process and that all issues relevant to the application are addressed and dealt with within the statutory time limit,” he added.
Deputy Sherlock’s worst fears were realised late last November when council planners wrote to the Department of Education seeking additional information on the application relating to eight particular points.
One of these related to the proposed new building which planners said was “significantly different” to the proposals presented at pre-planning stage adding there were “serious concerns” about its design quality and concerns that its scale would impact negatively on neighbouring homes.
Other issues raised included access to the site, the potential for surface flooding and the “under provision” of car parking spaces.
The full further information request can be viewed on the planning section at www.corkcoco.ie.
As of this week the department had yet to reply to the request, prompting a furious Deputy Sherlock to question why department officials had not ensured the original application was in order in the first place.
“That there should have been need for a further information request at all must be explained by the department, given that issues of this kind of magnitude would normally be resolved at the pre-planning stage,” said Deputy Sherlock.
He said it was his belief that council planners had been deliberately misled in order to delay the project which he said is very important.
“I believe the outgoing government and the department is stalling this. It’s clear to me that the a brake has been put on this project,” said Deputy Sherlock.
“As a past pupil this is a major priority for me and, if re-elected, I fully intend to raise this matter of immense local importance with the next Minister,” he added.