[comcor]

Station revamp plans back on track

CIÉ confirmed yesterday that its stalled multi-million-euro plans to regenerate and expand Cork’s dated Kent railway station are back on track.

CIÉ Group Property said it hopes to lodge a planning application for a new 3,000sq m, carbon-neutral transport hub facing the River Lee and complete with bus links with the city centre within months.

If cleared by planners, the new station will be almost the same size as Dublin’s Heuston Station.

The reconfigured station will have its concourse facing the city and the waterfront, together with integrated bus connections and overall improved public transport facilities. Its new customer facilities will include:

* An improved concourse area.
* A new ticket sales office.
* A new left luggage area.
* New toilet facilities.
* Upgraded mobility-impaired facilities.
* New shops and retail areas.
* Improved car parking facilities over the main concourse area.

The application will be made alongside another application by Manor Park Homes for the first phase of the wider development of the CIÉ-owned Horgan’s Quay site.

A previous application by Manor Park Homes to develop apartments on a portion of the site — a crucial area in the city’s multi-billion euro docklands regeneration plans — was flatly rejected by city planners earlier this year.

They cited major deficiencies, including serious design issues, among 13 reasons for refusal.

The application for the eastern side of Horgan’s Quay included 276 residential units, eight retail units, two commercial units, three showroom units, a crèche, and a temporary access road to the railway station.

But planners said it did not address the council’s overall goal of redeveloping the Horgan’s Quay site.

They highlighted serious urban design issues and a lack of a comprehensive approach by the applicants and landowners.

Failure to provide for the design for a new Kent Station and square was one of the main reasons for refusal.

It was not clear yesterday how planners will view this new application, which includes plans for the revamp of the railway station.

Planners also cited unacceptably tall buildings in the Manor Park Homes project which they said were contrary to the city development plan, and an unacceptable impact on views towards Montenotte and Tivoli and others areas of special character.

Manor Park Homes appealed the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanála.

The board confirmed yesterday that the matter is still with an inspector and the decision date has been pushed back until October.

And with an image gratuitously nicked from Archiseek



Probably just another false dawn for Kent Station.