Planning submitted for 15 houses in Conna

A planning application has gone before Cork County Council for the construction of 15 new dwelling houses at Castle Rivers Estate at Castle Cross Road, Conna.

Included in the plans are 14 four-bed detached houses and 1 three-bed detached house.

HBS Construction Ltd also seeks permission for all associated site development in their application, noting that access to the development will be provided via the existing entrance to the estate.

The proposed development comprises of works to allow for the completion of the housing estate at Castle Rivers, planning for which will expire later this year

This new application sees the addition of one new dwelling to the 46 units previously granted.

According to the application: “The proposed development will facilitate the completion of the Castle Rivers Estate which was originally granted permission in 2006. Construction of the estate was commenced by the previous developer but had ceased during the economic downturn.”

In 2016, HBS Construction Ltd submitted a planning application to Cork County Council for the development of 20 dwelling units, all associated ancillary car parking, site development work and landscaping at the same site.

The 2016 application was subsequently refused permission by the council on environmental grounds relating to the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the likelihood of negative repercussions on the River Bride and the Blackwater Special Area of Conservation.

At the time, it was reported in TheAvondhu that the council highlighted how the proposed development intended to discharge to the Conna WWTP, a plant which is ‘ considered to be hydraulically and organically overloaded’ and that there are ‘concerns that the plant does not have the capacity to accommodate the additional loading likely to be generated by the proposed development’.

Following this, changes were made to Section 42 of the Planning and Development Act which allowed for an extension of the original permission.

“The applicant has continued to develop the site under this permission in a sustainable manner constructing houses based on demand.

“The Castle Rivers Estate was commenced by the previous developer who completed 5 of the permitted units prior to stopping works on site. Since the acquisition of the site by HBS Construction in 2016, an additional 21 houses have been completed and an additional 6 are at the ground works stage and are progressing,” the new application reads.