Re-zoning area to City Hinterland

The c.7.79 hectare agricultural site in question which slopes steeply in a generally north-south direction is located in an elevated position above surrounding areas to the north of the historic village green in the town of Blarney. The access is via an existing agricultural access adjacent to Sunberry Drive, a cul-de-sac development of 14 dwellings to the west of the site, which is in turn accessed from the R617 Blarney Relief Road via a narrow steep and winding road. The Sunberry Drive access road from the R617 also serves Sunberry Heights (6 dwellings) and a single detached dwelling to the south-west.The busy R617 runs north of the town centre, providing a relief road for through traffic travelling between the Killowen/Tower Road and Station Road, the N20 Cork-Mallow road and Blarney Business Park area. The site overlooks Blarney Castle which is famously renowned as a national and international tourism attraction to Ireland, enhanced by its protected structures and Architectural Conservation Area status. The town itself is not dominated by residential development but provides a wide variety of tourist related businesses. North-east of the site is the Castleowen estate. The southern boundary of the site is partially screened by mature deciduous woodland, owned by Blarney Castle Estate, which forms a backdrop to the town and the Blarney Architectural Conservation Area. The northern boundary of the site is close to a high ridge above the town, visible from Blarney Castle, L2796 Clogheen-Killard local road and the Scenic Route (S39) to the south-west from where views of Blarney Lake and the town’s northerly ridge define the setting of Blarney. The subject site lies outside the LAP mapped ‘Existing Built Up Area’ but within the development boundary for Blarney and the administrative area of Cork City Council. However, Cork County Development Plan 2014 and Blarney Macroom Municipal District Local Area Plan continue to apply until the making of new development plans for Cork City and Cork County.

The Blarney Macroom MD LAP 2017 indicates the lands as Site Reference BL-R-03, within the development boundary of Blarney with a specific zoning objective. Cork County Council Development Plan 2014: The Development Plan mapping system indicates the site is in an area designated as ‘Prominent and Strategic Metropolitan Greenbelt, Built Up Area.’ Section 13.8 of the Development Plan discusses the importance of protecting prominent areas of the Metropolitan Cork Greenbelt which are of strategic importance to the purpose and function of the Greenbelt and Greenbelt Settlements which “…require the highest degree of protection because they are made up of the prominent open hilltops, valley sides and ridges that give metropolitan Cork its distinctive character….” Objective GI8-1 Prominent and Strategic Metropolitan Greenbelt Areas requiring Special Protection aims to “Protect those prominent open hilltops, valley sides and ridges that define the character of the metropolitan Cork Greenbelt and those areas which form strategic, largely undeveloped gaps between the main Greenbelt settlements. …. These areas are labelled MGB1 in the Metropolitan Greenbelt map and it is an objective to preserve them from development.” They are also identified on the detailed maps available in Volume 4 Maps through the CDP Map Browser at www.corkcoco.ie. Objective HOU3-1 Sustainable Residential Communities, seeks to ensure that all new residential developments meet national standards in terms of location, density and design, promote cycling and facilitate connectivity within the wider area. Objective HOU3-2 Urban Design.

In 2009 Hugh Mannion Planning Inspector in refusing to grant planning permission for residential development in this area stated the following as his grounds for refusal

1/ Development in this area materially contravenes zoning in this area.

2/ The entire site was designated a scenic landscape in Map 9 of the County Development plan. It is an objective (ENV2-6) to protect the visual and scenic amenity of County Cork’s built and natural environment. Specifically objective ENV2-7 in relation to designated scenic landscapes states “it is a particular objective to preserve the visual and scenic amenities of those areas of natural beauty identified as scenic landscape”.

3/  Section 18(4) (B) of the principle act provides that where the provisions of an LAP are in conflict with those of a varied or new development that the provision of the LAP shall cease to have effect. He further stated that may be the case that the zoning objective of the site in the current LAP is incompatible with its designation as a scenic landscape in the County Development plan and therefore the residential zoning of the site ceases to have effect.

4/ The R617 is a heavily trafficked  road which allows traffic from west Cork to access the N20 Cork/Limerick Road about l.5kms east of the current site. The relief road in the vicinity of the junction with Sunberry Heights has a marked rise in gradient west to east, a speed limit of 50kms per hour, a number of other entrances and a solid central white line. Sight distance is restricted in both directions by walls and vegetation, particularly to the east (left when exiting Sunberry Heights) by the brow of a hill.

5/ Sunberry Heights itself is the access road from the R617 to Sunberry Drive housing development (14  houses). It has a pronounced gradient over its entire length south east from Sunberry Drive to the junction with the R617. The exact width of this road has been the subject of disagreement between the parties to the appeal. I took two measurements of the width of the road during a site visit; the one closer to the Sunberry Drive gave a road width of 6m but a second measured 4.9m within 10m of the junction with the R6l7. At this latter location the road width was somewhat compromised by overgrown vegetation. Nevertheless it is the case that the road does not exceed 6m at any point. The footpath is in the region of 1.2m on the western side, there is no footpath on the eastern side of the road.

6/ A traffic impact assessment was submitted with the application but its conclusions less than convincing. Much is made of the relatively small impact (10% increase) on traffic volumes arising from the proposed development on Sunberry Road (R617/Blamey Inner Relief Road) and St Anne's Road which is off the next junction with the R617 to the west. However, this is to be expected given the relative importance of the  road as a distributor around Blarney and its link function to the N20. Of greater significance for the safety of the future residents of the proposed development and the existing residents of Sunberry Drive/Heights is the impact on Sunberry Heights itself. The predicted growth in traffic on this road is 709% for the AM period and 348% for the PM period. This is on a road with no real possibility of  improving its width or vertical or horizontal alignment. The assessment concludes that  the junction will operate within capacity with the additional load.

7/ Having regard to the volume of traffic likely to be generated by the proposed development, including persons dropping off and collecting children from the proposed creche, on the adjoining road network and in particular on Sunberry Heights, the significant gradient of the Sunberry Heights and in particular as it approaches the junction with the Blarney Inner Relief Road, the limited width of the Sunberry Heights and limited width and gradient of its single footpath, the restricted sightlines along Sunberry Heights, the inadequate  sight distance available at the junction of Sunberry Heights and the Blarney Inner Relief Road, the limited legal interest of the applicant in Sunberry Heights and consequently limited ability to carry out road improvements, I conclude that the proposed development would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.

8/ The proposed access road, Sunberry Heights, because of its limited width, inadequate footpaths and poor vertical and horizontal alignment is inadequate to accommodate the additional traffic movements which would arise from the proposed development. The junction of Sunberry Heights with the R617 Regional Route has limited sight distance and would not safety accommodate the additional traffic turning movements onto a regional route which would arise from the proposed development. The proposed development would, therefore endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.

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Hugh Mannion Planning Inspector.

An Bord Pleanala.

4th November 2009.

The 2009 planning permission was refused for the above reasons on appeal by the residents to An Bord Pleanala.

The residents have included road and footpath survey information of  the access road to the estate. These indicate gradients far in excess of those considered to be acceptable for pedestrians and clearly not wheelchair accessible, not suitable for small children, prams etc, only suitable for the fittest of pedestrians and dangerous in wet or winter weather conditions. The road widths do not allow cycle lanes and the gradients are only surmountable by the fittest of cyclists.

The dramatic increase in traffic volumes recently has led to total large scale congestion in busy morning and evening periods. Residents, during these periods, have difficulty turning right at the bottom of the estate. A recent Garda survey of accidents in the Monacnappa area highlights the current dangers on this road.