Cork councillor’s opposition to apartment block plan draws ire – ‘this is hard-right nonsense’

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

A Cork city councillor has accused the local authority of stacking people in ‘black boxes’ with no light or amenities as he voted against a 7-storey, 147-apartment city centre development plan that doesn’t include dedicated parking.

The proposed development of 72 one-bed apartments and 75 two-bed apartments at Anglesea Terrace near the South Link Road came before the elected members of Cork City Council for consideration at their meeting this week.

The Anglesea Terrace Apartments scheme will be delivered by the Land Development Agency in partnership with Cork City Council and will provide cost rental and social housing.

Independent Cllr Albert Deasy, who admitted he hadn’t read the planning file on the development but had read the report given to councillors, said it would lead to “147 families stacked on top of each other. What do you get from that? You get chaos, of course you get chaos. You strive for 15-minute cities, this is what you get. You get your bike, you can't drive, you can't park.”

Accusing the proposal of representing “Green ideology” and “box-ticking” for sustainability goals, the independent councillor said “you get your bus line, you get your bike lane. The bike is just a cudgel for you to accept this kind of stuff. You know, putting people into dark spaces, black boxes with no light, no garden, no amenities, a roof garden. How do you access a roof as a woman with children if the lift is broken?”

Cllr Deasy’s comments were strongly criticised by his fellow councillors. Labour Cllr Peter Horgan described them as “garbage and nonsense. The mask slipped. Talking about 15-minute cities as if it's a bad thing. This is the nonsense that we hear from the hard right all the time … We want inner-city living. And inner-city living means that you don't have cars. People make that choice when they have inner-city living. We're building a city of people, not of cars.”

Green Party Cllr Dan Boyle said: “I think the most incredible statement that I've heard this evening, and I think all councillors should be rightly shocked, is that the councillor has said that ‘I have not read the planning file, but I am opposed to this.’ And that is the biggest dereliction of duty for us as a member of a council. We have a duty to examine the information that's before us, assess the public reaction, and look towards the future development of this city.”

Fianna Fáil Cllr Colm Kelleher described Cllr Deasy’s statement that he hadn’t read the planning file but would oppose the development as “one of the dumbest remarks I've ever heard inside this chamber…The absolute derogation of duty not to read it and to stand up here and to say that they're going to be stacked on top of each other in a black box, describing it like a Soviet housing development. It's perplexing, this is a cost rental development in the city, it's part of government policy.”

Independent Cllr Paudie Dineen said he supported the development but acknowledged there are issues with parking around Anglesea Street.

“We're in the middle of a housing crisis. We need homes. Inner city living is a real thing to be honest and for us to enable to build a city up and create a living space there, we need people to live in close proximity to it. The parking is definitely an issue and I will continue to raise it,” he said.

Twenty-seven councillors voted to approve the apartments scheme with Cllr Deasy the only one to vote against.