Barrack Street housing finally good to go
Barrack Street is set to receive a “new lease of life” as a delayed city council housing scheme finally gets the go-ahead.
It’s been almost two years since Cork City Council voted in favour of building more than 30 housing units on a number of vacant and derelict sites to the rear of the former Nancy Spain’s pub.
The lengthy delays in commencement were due to a number of unforeseen circumstances with the developers behind the project.
Independent Cllr Mick Finn said that progress on the project is “long overdue” and that he hoped that the development would help to lift the area.
“I’m hopeful it will be something of a rising tide. Dereliction has been a blackspot on Barrack Street for the last 20 to 30 years.
“Some owners were allowed to sit on properties that were crumbling which was a real ‘two fingers’ to the street,” said Cllr Finn.
He continued: “However, fantastic people like the late Tom Barry and the Broderick family kept the street vibrant in recent times and news of this new housing project, alongside the previous regeneration of the streetscape itself, is good news.
“Of course, we all know that the realisation of the event centre project nearby would be the icing on the cake and would undoubtedly result in investment by those sitting on sites in the vicinity.”
The former lord mayor added that the addition of new families would also help to address a number of issues associated with the spread of nearby UCC and student accommodation.
Cllr Finn said: “My views on student accommodation in the wrong location are well known, and I think the fact that these houses will be occupied by families will help to rebuild in a small way the social fabric of this great street and parish.”
Work on the Barrack Street housing project is due to begin in October having been originally signed off by the council in early 2017.
Cllr Finn also called on the council to invest in the nearby Noonan Road flats as part of its regeneration and refurbishment agenda.
“I am confident that we will have progress on this soon, as it has been overlooked in recent years despite assurances to local councillors,” concluded Cllr Finn.