Right of way over part of historic Cork City laneway extinguished for Penneys expansion

It followed a request from the O’Flynn Group to facilitate the planning permission granted to Primark Limited and O’Flynn Construction for the redevelopment and amalgamation of retail units at St Patrick’s St, Cook St, Oliver Plunkett St and Robert St, across almost an entire city centre block, to increase the size of Penneys’ flagship Cork store by some 50%.

City planners’ decision to approve the project was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by the owner of a premises on Cook St, who objected to the inclusion of Elbow Lane in the redevelopment.

The lane, which was gated in 1999, traverses the site and has been used for servicing of commercial units and refuse storage.

A report on the extinguishment presented to councillors included responses to two submissions objecting to the move. The personal details of the objectors were redacted.

One submission from the owners of a nearby bar, whose family have run it since the late 1930s, said they have made constant use of Elbow Lane, previously as a central drop-off point for delivery and collection of kegs, and most recently for bin storage.

They said the partial closure of the lane will “give rise to significant inconvenience” for them.

The second submission, requesting an oral hearing on the matter, mistakenly claimed that the developers had not stated in their planning application their intention to acquire the lane.

But the report to councillors said the council did provide a letter consenting to include part of the public laneway in the planning application.

The council pointed out that the proposed extinguishment affects 48.2 metres of the lane and that the remaining 31 metres will remain available for use as before.

It said there would be little benefit in holding an oral hearing, and it recommended that council adopt the resolution to extinguish the right of way.

Councillors voted 25 to two, with three abstentions, to approve the move.