Crematorium decision delayed by two-months
DECISION ON THE BURNING ISSUE THAT HAS GALVANISED LOCAL OPINION NOW NOT DUE UNTIL AUGUST
THE long-running saga over a controversial plan to build a crematorium in north Cork is set to run on beyond the summer after it was confirmed a definitive decision on the proposal has been put back by almost two months.
In January of this year it emerged the proposal by Classic Lodges (Ireland) Ltd for the facility on the site of the former Duhallow Park Hotel at Drumcommer Beg, Kanturk, had been shot down by County Council planners over concerns about public health and the environment.
The following month, prior to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, the company lodged an appeal against the decision with An Bord Pleanála, with the board saying it expected to make its ruling on the appeal on or before June 18.
However, an official with the appeals board has confirmed to The Corkman that the decision date has now been put back to August 13 as a result of restrictions put in place following the COVID-19 outbreak, which has delayed the decision-making process. The crematorium proposal had galvanised the local community into action, with more than 50 observations/submissions lodged with Cork County Council against the initial application, and an online petition calling on people to voice their objections to the facility.
Concerns raised included the level of traffic the facility would generate along an already busy stretch of the N72 Mallow-to-Killarney Road and the potential impact it might have on public health and the surrounding environment.
In their ruling, planners cited one reason for the refusal saying that – on the basis of the information submitted, including a number of further information requests after the plan was initially lodged in December 2018 – they were “not satisfied that the proposed development would not adversely impact on public health and the environment by reason of serious air pollution”.
“The proposed development would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area,” they concluded.
While it had been hoped locally that the decision might finally draw a line under the issue, one anonymous source at the time conceded that this may not be case, telling The Corkman “the battle has been won, but the war still carries on”.
Those words have turned out to be prophetic following the lodging of the appeal against the refusal decision.
The lengthy submission to the appeals board was lodged by certified planning consultants McCutcheon Halley on behalf of their client Classic Lodges (Ireland) Ltd.
It said a revised air-quality dispersion assessment report had been prepared, as per one if the further information request, which “demonstrates that there will be no impacts to air quality and no impacts to public health or the environment as a result of the proposed development”.
It pointed out that, excluding the air quality assessment, all other matters raised in requests for further information “had been dealt with to the satisfaction of the planning authority”.
These included: traffic and safety; noise assessment; the design of the facility; connection to mains gas supply; surface water and wastewater treatment and public lighting.
It further pointed out that the planning authority, as stated in the senior planners report, had indicated their approval of the development in principle from a land use and roads impact perspective.
It added that the majority of the site-specific issues raised by further information requests had been adequately addressed.