Cork City Council to acquire derelict property after 'no effort' by owner to redevelop 'neglected' site
Cork City Council has been granted permission to acquire a derelict property after the owner made "no demonstrable efforts" to redevelop the site or bring it out of dereliction. In October last year, local planners applied for a compulsory acquisition of 7 St. Patrick's Terrace on Lower Glanmire Road, which has been listed on the derelict sites register since January 2022.Owners of the property, Connecticut Real Estate Ltd, who objected to the application, told Cork City Council in 2024 that it had started to redevelop the property but had to pause works while a structural survey was carried out. The company said it intended to place the property on the rental market once it was redeveloped.In November 2024, Nicholas Cushnahan, acting as agent for Connecticut Real Estate Ltd, provided a six-month timeframe for the submitted schedule of works, which included clearing the gardens and house, underpinning works, new floors, new roof joists, new windows, plumbing and electrical works, insulation, plastering and a new kitchen. Mr Cushnahan said work on the property would begin in February 2025, but later told the council that this would be delayed until the following April.Refurbishment delays In June, Cork City Council wrote to Mr Cushnahan, informing him that they had visited the property, taken photographs and determined that no works or site clearance had commenced, and that the site remained in a state of dereliction. A formal application for consent to acquire the property was submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála in the following October.Objecting to the application, Mr Cushnahan wrote to the council stating that finance was concluded in the prior weeks, that the property would be refurbished and rented and that the works would be completed by the end of January 2026. Cork City Council responded that they would proceed with its application.In its report, An Coimisiún Pleanála inspector Carol Smyth said the property was "vacant and has a neglected, unsightly and objectionable appearance from the public road."Front-facing windows were noted as being in disrepair, with one of them completely broken. Ripped curtains hanging from the broken window could be seen from outside the property, while the ground-floor window and front door were boarded up. The front gutter was also reported to be broken, with "extensive vegetation" growing up the gable wall and over the chimney and road.'Neglected, unsightly and objectionable appearance' The report also noted correspondence between Cork City Council and the occupants of the property's neighbouring No. 8, St. Patrick's Terrace, complaining about damp in their home and vegetation on the walls, roof and garden, which was encroaching into their property and now behind the external plaster of their house."The house is vacant and has a neglected, unsightly and objectionable appearance from the public road. The windows on the front façade are in a state of disrepair," Ms Smyth noted.The inspector also said Connecticut Real Estate Ltd had "more than sufficient time" to commence the works on the property and that Cork City Council had given the owner "a number of opportunities" to progress the site."Given that the site has been on the derelict sites register since 2022, it is my view that no demonstrable efforts have been made to redevelop the dwelling or clear the site to bring it out of dereliction," Ms Smyth said. In accordance with the inspector's report, the planning commission approved the council's application, granting consent for the compulsory acquisition of the derelict property without modification.In its decision, An Coimisiún Pleanála said the dwelling's "derelict, unsightly and objectionable" condition detracted from the amenity, character and appearance of land in the neighbourhood."
