Early stage plans for Mitchelstown houses
There are plans, at a very early stage, for 18 houses on land between Church Street and James Street in Mitchelstown. The intention to build the houses was lodged with the council earlier in April by Brigown Construction Limited, who were previously granted planning permission for a similar development in 2017 on the same plot of land.
As part of the plans, an old shopfront that faces onto James Street would be demolished; the land to be developed is roughly alongside the James Street carpark and the fire station.
While the development was granted planning in 2017, it was conditional on upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant. Works were done at the plant last year which allows for some development in the town, but exactly how much extra capacity has not been definitively stated, with contradictory figures given by both Cork County Council and Uisce Éireann.
Some building has taken place in the town since these wastewater upgrades, including eight social houses in Brigown and works have also begun on the former Presentation Convent in Mitchelstown. Presuming these two developments are completed as intended, that will be 25 ‘new’ connections feeding into the Mitchelstown Wastewater Treatment Plant. This represents about half of what Cork County Council say the plant can take before it is at capacity again.
In July last year, council official James Fogarty (now gone from the organisation) said that 50 more housing units could be accommodated by the upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant but stressed that this was conditional and dependent on environmental assessments. He was responding to figures provided by Uisce Éireann, who had indicated that the upgrades would allow for an extra 600 people in the town (or 150 four-bedroom houses). At the time, he described this figure as ‘disingenuous’, and that Cork County Council had other considerations that the water utility company did not need to consider, such as the impact on the rivers and environment.