Waterfall residents urge council to re-examine name of new housing development
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Developers have had to rename a large housing development which is being built in Cork’s western suburbs after residents of a nearby village with the same name objected.
Site construction is underway on Ardstone Homes Ltd’s 276-unit strategic housing development (SHD) project on the Waterfall Road in Bishopstown, close to Waterfall village, on the western outskirts of Cork City.
But when it emerged that the SHD scheme was to be called Waterfall, residents of the village objected.
Fine Gael Councilor Garret Kelleher raised the issue at this month’s city council meeting and asked how the name of the new SHD was decided, pointing out that the name assigned to the new estate is the same as that of the nearby village.
In response, the city’s assistant director of services in the council’s community, culture, and placemaking directorate, David O’Brien, said the naming of the new SHD was a requirement of a condition attached to the grant of planning by An Bord Pleanála in September 2021.
But he confirmed that after the naming issue arose, the developer submitted revised compliance details to Cork City Council on August 31 with the revised name Waterfall Heights/Ard an Easa.
“This was acceptable to the planning authority,” he said.
Mr Kelleher said while it may be acceptable to planners, residents of Waterfall village still have concerns and he asked if the issue could be examined again.
The SHD scheme being delivered by Ardstone on land owned by the Grafton Group PLC will include 137 houses, 139 apartments, and a creche.
The apartments will be built in seven blocks, ranging in height from three to five storeys, with one of the apartment blocks making provision for a cafe fronting onto the Waterfall Road at ground floor level.
Concerns were raised during the planning process about the scale of the development in an area with rural roads, and the level of traffic it could generate.
The scheme was redesigned after a previous application by the developers for 240 homes was refused by the board in 2019.