Gouldings/BMDC applied to Cork County Council for planning permission to: 1) Move the existing Gouldings fertiliser blending/bagging plant from its current location at Centre Park Road, Cork to a new build at Marino Point and 2) increase shipping activity at the jetty. BMDC stands for the Belvelly Marino Development Company DAC and it is a new collaborative venture between the Port of Cork and Lanber Holdings.

This move was expected for some time. The problem is, Marino Point is very close to Passage West. The PACE Centre is only 450 metres from the jetty. The Steampacket House apartments are only 500 metres away. Noise from the few ships that are currently using the Marino Point jetty is already keeping some residents of Passage West awake at night. And although the planning application included a significant volume of documentation including an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) that is supposed to indicate how negative impacts like this will be mitigated, it had no assessment of night-time noise from the jetty at all.

In making their assessment of the planning application, the County Council did not pick this up. Yes, I and other residents made submissions asking them to address this point but the County Council did not. So I and others have appealed the Council’s proposed grant of planning for these proposed developments at Marino Point. We expect the development to happen but it should respect its nearest neighbours in Passage West and particularly their right to sleep at night-time.

My appeal is here: