Close the Factories and do away with the jobs then build gaffs for the unemployed to rent ...... PLANS for the development of 1,104 apartments in Cookstown Industrial Estate have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála, reports Aideen O’Flaherty and William O’Connor.
Joseph Costello Absolute Limousines, with an address in Saggart, submitted the plans for the development, to be called Cookstown Castle, on March 19.
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The site in Cookstown Industrial Estate.
Permission is being sought for the construction of 1,104 build-to-rent apartments over 22 blocks, comprising 132 studio units, 475 one-bed apartments, 208 two-bed apartments, 244 two-bed duplex units and 45 three-bed apartments, in four blocks varying in height from four- to eleven-storeys.
According to the application, each apartment will have associated private open space in the form of a ground floor terrace or a balcony and access to internal communal amenity spaces, and 5,107 sq. m of external communal amenity space at ground, first floor and roof levels.
Provision of four commercial units at ground floor level of Blocks B and D, including one in Block D to serve the Circle K Belgard petrol station which is to be retained, is included.
Permission is also being sought for 1,500sq. m of office space across first to sixth floor levels of Block D and a crèche with external play area at ground floor level of Block C.
The development is to be served by a total of 351 parking spaces, including 17 limited mobility parking spaces and 16 car share spaces, and 1,860 bicycle spaces.
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Artist’s impression of the proposed junction at the intersection of First Avenue and Cookstown Road
Road, junction and streetscape upgrade works along First Avenue, Cookstown Road and Old Belgard Road, including the installation of a signalised junction at the intersection of First Avenue and Cookstown Road and Old Belgard Road and Cookstown Road form part of the plans.
Other aspects of the proposed development include the construction of three new roads and one pedestrian/cycle link to the Belgard Luas Stop, and construction of a 1,688sq. m landscaped public plaza with an outdoor flexible events space in the south-western corner of the site.
A decision on the application is due from An Bord Pleanála by July 8.
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3D drawing illustrating the massing of the proposed blocks across the site
In a Statement of Consistency and Planning Report issued by Hughes Planning and Development Consultants on behalf of Cookstown Castle, they said: “The Cookstown Industrial Estate is expected to be the subject of extensive urban renewal in the coming years, with existing industrial buildings being replaced with higher density development and multinational corporations, such as Amazon, commencing operation in the area.
“Currently, the majority of the immediately surrounding buildings are older building stock, save for a recently constructed 4-storey office building featuring at the Old Belgard Road and Cookstown Road roundabout. However, a number of large scale residential and mixed-use developments have been approved in the surrounding area in recent times.”
Cookstown Industrial Estate has been earmarked for a raft of residential developments, including the permitted development of 252 build-to-rent apartments at 66 and 67 Fourth Avenue, and a 196-unit residential development at Units 5A-C on Second Avenue.
As reported in The Echo last February, the Belgard Heights Residents’ Association expressed concerns about what they view as an “overdevelopment of studios, one-bed and two-bed apartments” in Cookstown.
